diff --git a/runtime/src/main/java/org/capnproto/WireHelpers.java b/runtime/src/main/java/org/capnproto/WireHelpers.java
index 2b12da6..22a1871 100644
--- a/runtime/src/main/java/org/capnproto/WireHelpers.java
+++ b/runtime/src/main/java/org/capnproto/WireHelpers.java
@@ -1118,7 +1118,7 @@ final class WireHelpers {
 
         if (WirePointer.isNull(ref)) {
             if (defaultSegment == null) {
-                factory.constructReader(SegmentReader.EMPTY, 0, 0, 0, 0, (short) 0, 0x7fffffff);
+                return factory.constructReader(SegmentReader.EMPTY, 0, 0, 0, 0, (short) 0, 0x7fffffff);
             } else {
                 segment = defaultSegment;
                 refOffset = defaultOffset;