diff --git a/service/maps/service-client/src/main/java/ai/timefold/solver/service/maps/service/client/api/TravelTimeMatrixEnricher.java b/service/maps/service-client/src/main/java/ai/timefold/solver/service/maps/service/client/api/TravelTimeMatrixEnricher.java
index 5ef4ebf85eb..00462c064af 100644
--- a/service/maps/service-client/src/main/java/ai/timefold/solver/service/maps/service/client/api/TravelTimeMatrixEnricher.java
+++ b/service/maps/service-client/src/main/java/ai/timefold/solver/service/maps/service/client/api/TravelTimeMatrixEnricher.java
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 import java.time.temporal.ChronoUnit;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Objects;
 
 import jakarta.enterprise.context.ApplicationScoped;
 import jakarta.inject.Inject;
@@ -62,7 +63,8 @@ public LocationsAwareSolverModel<?> enrich(LocationsAwareSolverModel<?> solverMo
     }
 
     private LocationsAwareSolverModel<?> enrichSingleMatrix(LocationsAwareSolverModel<?> solverModel) {
-        List<Location> locations = solverModel.getLocations(); // Get all the locations from the model only once.
+        // Get all the locations from the model only once.
+        List<Location> locations = Objects.requireNonNull(solverModel.getLocations(), "List of locations cannot be null.");
         TravelTimeAndDistanceWithMetadata travelTimeAndDistance;
         try {
             travelTimeAndDistance =
@@ -85,7 +87,7 @@ private LocationsAwareSolverModel<?> enrichSingleMatrix(LocationsAwareSolverMode
     }
 
     private LocationsAwareSolverModel<?> enrichAllTimeframes(LocationsAwareSolverModel<?> solverModel) {
-        List<Location> locations = solverModel.getLocations();
+        List<Location> locations = Objects.requireNonNull(solverModel.getLocations(), "List of locations cannot be null.");
         TravelTimesByTimeframeWithMetadata result;
         try {
             result = mapService.getTravelTimeAndDistanceByTimeframe(locations, optionsSupplier.getOptions());
diff --git a/service/maps/service-integration/src/main/java/ai/timefold/solver/service/maps/service/integration/api/LocationsAwareSolverModel.java b/service/maps/service-integration/src/main/java/ai/timefold/solver/service/maps/service/integration/api/LocationsAwareSolverModel.java
index 5ab322f3cbe..4a2e8279975 100644
--- a/service/maps/service-integration/src/main/java/ai/timefold/solver/service/maps/service/integration/api/LocationsAwareSolverModel.java
+++ b/service/maps/service-integration/src/main/java/ai/timefold/solver/service/maps/service/integration/api/LocationsAwareSolverModel.java
@@ -11,7 +11,14 @@ public interface LocationsAwareSolverModel<Score_ extends Score<Score_>> extends
 
     List<Location> getLocations();
 
-    Optional<String> getLocationSetName();
+    /**
+     * Returns the optional name of the location set used for map-service requests.
+     *
+     * @return the location-set name, or {@link Optional#empty()} when no name is configured
+     */
+    default Optional<String> getLocationSetName() {
+        return Optional.empty();
+    }
 
     void setLocationsNotInMap(List<Location> locationsNotInMap);