diff --git a/hist/hist/src/TGraph.cxx b/hist/hist/src/TGraph.cxx
index f2bcd400fe04973641cd0b0d947fce0da18bfda4..b84dcd4241ba43050b79c2625fc9cba5cef57b66 100644
--- a/hist/hist/src/TGraph.cxx
+++ b/hist/hist/src/TGraph.cxx
@@ -787,7 +787,8 @@ Int_t TGraph::DistancetoPrimitive(Int_t px, Int_t py)
    //  The distance is computed in pixels units.
 
    TVirtualGraphPainter *painter = TVirtualGraphPainter::GetPainter();
-   if (painter) painter->DistancetoPrimitiveHelper(this, px, py);
+   if (painter) return painter->DistancetoPrimitiveHelper(this, px, py);
+   else return 0;
 }