diff --git a/src/textord/colfind.cpp b/src/textord/colfind.cpp
index d7b27beea0..c8e6d0bf24 100644
--- a/src/textord/colfind.cpp
+++ b/src/textord/colfind.cpp
@@ -926,7 +926,8 @@ void ColumnFinder::ComputeMeanColumnGap(bool any_multi_column) {
                                                     &gap_samples);
   }
   mean_column_gap_ = any_multi_column && gap_samples > 0
-      ? total_gap / gap_samples : total_width / width_samples;
+      ? total_gap / gap_samples : width_samples > 0 
+      ? total_width / width_samples : 0;
 }
 
 //////// Functions that manipulate ColPartitions in the part_grid_ /////