diff --git a/source/blender/render/intern/source/occlusion.c b/source/blender/render/intern/source/occlusion.c
index cb6a8a102d0..8f070421890 100644
--- a/source/blender/render/intern/source/occlusion.c
+++ b/source/blender/render/intern/source/occlusion.c
@@ -613,7 +613,8 @@ static void occ_build_recursive(OcclusionTree *tree, OccNode *node, int begin, i
 
 	/* compute maximum distance from center */
 	node->dco= 0.0f;
-	occ_build_dco(tree, node, node->co, &node->dco);
+	if(node->area > 0.0f)
+		occ_build_dco(tree, node, node->co, &node->dco);
 }
 
 static void occ_build_sh_normalize(OccNode *node)