diff --git a/src/plugins/coreplugin/navigationwidget.cpp b/src/plugins/coreplugin/navigationwidget.cpp
index 079656fb0d3c0c49222eea83667c8384535d5527..599b4cf5d53f95702f36698868bcc571de952288 100644
--- a/src/plugins/coreplugin/navigationwidget.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/coreplugin/navigationwidget.cpp
@@ -288,6 +288,7 @@ QWidget *NavigationWidget::activateSubWidget(Id factoryId)
         ICore::raiseWindow(this);
         return d->m_subWidgets.first()->widget();
     }
+    return nullptr;
 }
 
 void NavigationWidget::splitSubWidget(int factoryIndex)