Why does the MATLAB 2017a Linux installer crash throwing an error about java.lang.​​​NullPoin​t​e​rExcep​ti​on​Comp​one​nt and SizeAggregator in the log file?

installing 2017a on Linux workstation as root results in crash and error in log file:

(Aug 28, 2017 11:36:38) java.lang.NullPointerException

        at com.mathworks.install.ComponentSizeAggregator.add(ComponentSizeAggregator.java:13)
        at com.mathworks.install.ProductInstallerImpl.downloadProducts(ProductInstallerImpl.java:143)
        at com.mathworks.install.ProductInstallerImpl.installProducts(ProductInstallerImpl.java:81)
        at com.mathworks.install.InstallerImpl.install(InstallerImpl.java:113)
        at com.mathworks.installwizard.model.InstallTask.execute(InstallTask.java:46)
        at com.mathworks.installwizard.model.AbstractBackgroundTask.execute(AbstractBackgroundTask.java:38)
        at com.mathworks.installwizard.model.AbstractTask.call(AbstractTask.java:74)
        at com.mathworks.installwizard.model.AbstractTask.call(AbstractTask.java:24)
        at com.mathworks.wizard.worker.WorkerImpl.doInBackground(WorkerImpl.java:24)
        at javax.swing.SwingWorker$1.call(Unknown Source)
        at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(Unknown Source)
        at javax.swing.SwingWorker.run(Unknown Source)
        at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(Unknown Source)
        at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(Unknown Source)
        at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

(Aug 28, 2017 11:36:38) Error: The application encountered an unexpected error and needs to close. You may want to try re-installing your product(s). More information can be found at /tmp/mathworks_root.log