diff --git a/applications/utilities/mesh/advanced/selectCells/selectCells.C b/applications/utilities/mesh/advanced/selectCells/selectCells.C
index 2fa0f20ada..39d5c3db87 100644
--- a/applications/utilities/mesh/advanced/selectCells/selectCells.C
+++ b/applications/utilities/mesh/advanced/selectCells/selectCells.C
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ label selectOutsideCells
         // Find cell containing point. Linear search.
         label cellI = queryMesh.findCell(outsidePts[outsidePtI], -1, false);
 
-        if (cellType[cellI] == MESH)
+        if (cellI != -1 && cellType[cellI] == MESH)
         {
             Info<< "Marking cell " << cellI << " containing outside point "
                 << outsidePts[outsidePtI] << " with type " << cellType[cellI]