diff --git a/reco/detectors/trd/qa/CbmTrdHitProducerQa.cxx b/reco/detectors/trd/qa/CbmTrdHitProducerQa.cxx
index 19c1f315ffbb23cafa89a0233017110de0cffbc5..09f172d66513614ef06bad34c1402ead0203b812 100644
--- a/reco/detectors/trd/qa/CbmTrdHitProducerQa.cxx
+++ b/reco/detectors/trd/qa/CbmTrdHitProducerQa.cxx
@@ -166,6 +166,7 @@ void CbmTrdHitProducerQa::Exec(Option_t*)
     const CbmMatch* trdDigiMatch = fDigiMan->GetMatch(ECbmModuleId::kTrd, trdHit->GetRefId());
     if (nullptr == trdDigiMatch) continue;
 
+    if (0 == trdDigiMatch->GetNofLinks()) continue;  // catch case w/o links as then MatchedLink is invalid
     const CbmTrdPoint* trdPoint =
       dynamic_cast<CbmTrdPoint*>(fTrdPoints->Get(trdDigiMatch->GetMatchedLink()));  // file, event, object
     if (nullptr == trdPoint) continue;