diff --git a/source/blender/blenkernel/BKE_bvhutils.h b/source/blender/blenkernel/BKE_bvhutils.h
index 5c15a431851..7d00e5a8ce9 100644
--- a/source/blender/blenkernel/BKE_bvhutils.h
+++ b/source/blender/blenkernel/BKE_bvhutils.h
@@ -247,9 +247,11 @@ typedef struct BVHTreeFromPointCloud {
   const float (*coords)[3];
 } BVHTreeFromPointCloud;
 
-BVHTree *BKE_bvhtree_from_pointcloud_get(struct BVHTreeFromPointCloud *data,
-                                         const struct PointCloud *pointcloud,
-                                         int tree_type);
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+[[nodiscard]] BVHTree *BKE_bvhtree_from_pointcloud_get(BVHTreeFromPointCloud *data,
+                                                       const PointCloud *pointcloud,
+                                                       int tree_type);
+#endif
 
 void free_bvhtree_from_pointcloud(struct BVHTreeFromPointCloud *data);
 
diff --git a/source/blender/blenkernel/intern/bvhutils.cc b/source/blender/blenkernel/intern/bvhutils.cc
index abbb3e92397..061c276dd50 100644
--- a/source/blender/blenkernel/intern/bvhutils.cc
+++ b/source/blender/blenkernel/intern/bvhutils.cc
@@ -1369,9 +1369,9 @@ void free_bvhtree_from_mesh(BVHTreeFromMesh *data)
 /** \name Point Cloud BVH Building
  * \{ */
 
-BVHTree *BKE_bvhtree_from_pointcloud_get(BVHTreeFromPointCloud *data,
-                                         const PointCloud *pointcloud,
-                                         const int tree_type)
+[[nodiscard]] BVHTree *BKE_bvhtree_from_pointcloud_get(BVHTreeFromPointCloud *data,
+                                                       const PointCloud *pointcloud,
+                                                       const int tree_type)
 {
   int tot_point = pointcloud->totpoint;
   BVHTree *tree = bvhtree_new_common(0.0f, tree_type, 6, tot_point, tot_point);
diff --git a/source/blender/nodes/geometry/nodes/node_geo_proximity.cc b/source/blender/nodes/geometry/nodes/node_geo_proximity.cc
index 42084ba1864..cc82e8a15d5 100644
--- a/source/blender/nodes/geometry/nodes/node_geo_proximity.cc
+++ b/source/blender/nodes/geometry/nodes/node_geo_proximity.cc
@@ -95,8 +95,8 @@ static bool calculate_pointcloud_proximity(const VArray<float3> &positions,
                                            MutableSpan<float3> r_locations)
 {
   BVHTreeFromPointCloud bvh_data;
-  BKE_bvhtree_from_pointcloud_get(&bvh_data, &pointcloud, 2);
-  if (bvh_data.tree == nullptr) {
+  const BVHTree *tree = BKE_bvhtree_from_pointcloud_get(&bvh_data, &pointcloud, 2);
+  if (tree == nullptr) {
     return false;
   }
 
diff --git a/source/blender/nodes/geometry/nodes/node_geo_sample_nearest.cc b/source/blender/nodes/geometry/nodes/node_geo_sample_nearest.cc
index 1b63e37579c..bddc0a97215 100644
--- a/source/blender/nodes/geometry/nodes/node_geo_sample_nearest.cc
+++ b/source/blender/nodes/geometry/nodes/node_geo_sample_nearest.cc
@@ -72,14 +72,19 @@ static void node_init(bNodeTree * /*tree*/, bNode *node)
 static void get_closest_pointcloud_points(const PointCloud &pointcloud,
                                           const VArray<float3> &positions,
                                           const IndexMask &mask,
-                                          const MutableSpan<int> r_indices,
-                                          const MutableSpan<float> r_distances_sq)
+                                          MutableSpan<int> r_indices,
+                                          MutableSpan<float> r_distances_sq)
 {
   BLI_assert(positions.size() >= r_indices.size());
   BLI_assert(pointcloud.totpoint > 0);
 
   BVHTreeFromPointCloud tree_data;
-  BKE_bvhtree_from_pointcloud_get(&tree_data, &pointcloud, 2);
+  const BVHTree *tree = BKE_bvhtree_from_pointcloud_get(&tree_data, &pointcloud, 2);
+  if (tree == nullptr) {
+    r_indices.fill(0);
+    r_distances_sq.fill(0.0f);
+    return;
+  }
 
   mask.foreach_index([&](const int i) {
     BVHTreeNearest nearest;