diff --git a/intern/cycles/blender/blender_util.h b/intern/cycles/blender/blender_util.h
index b2046b290b2..2c83ee6c2b5 100644
--- a/intern/cycles/blender/blender_util.h
+++ b/intern/cycles/blender/blender_util.h
@@ -43,10 +43,12 @@ void python_thread_state_restore(void **python_thread_state);
 static inline BL::Mesh object_to_mesh(BL::BlendData data, BL::Object object, BL::Scene scene, bool apply_modifiers, bool render, bool calc_undeformed)
 {
 	BL::Mesh me = data.meshes.new_from_object(scene, object, apply_modifiers, (render)? 2: 1, false, calc_undeformed);
-	if (me.use_auto_smooth()) {
-		me.calc_normals_split(me.auto_smooth_angle());
+	if ((bool)me) {
+		if (me.use_auto_smooth()) {
+			me.calc_normals_split(me.auto_smooth_angle());
+		}
+		me.calc_tessface();
 	}
-	me.calc_tessface();
 	return me;
 }