Android getActionBar() returns null when I touch hard menu button

Android getActionBar() returns null when I touch hard menu button

I have action bar and menu located in action bar.
When I touch hard menu button getActionBar() returns null.
Third at the bottom is what I mean with hard menu button:

I can prevent app to crash as: if(getActionBar() != null) { // ... }
But it's not what I want to do. I need the action bar items to
modification (add/remove). So I am not able to do while getActionBar()
returns null.
Anyone has any idea why getActionBar() returns null?