diff --git a/src/util/src/tskiplist.c b/src/util/src/tskiplist.c
index a65d9b0f31..3a474fe6c1 100644
--- a/src/util/src/tskiplist.c
+++ b/src/util/src/tskiplist.c
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ SSkipListNode *tSkipListPut(SSkipList *pSkipList, SSkipListNode *pNode) {
       pthread_rwlock_unlock(pSkipList->lock);
     }
 
-    return forward[0];
+    return NULL;
   }
   
   tSkipListDoInsert(pSkipList, forward, pNode);