diff --git a/lib/dictBuilder/cover.c b/lib/dictBuilder/cover.c
index 3a97965cf..176c386c4 100644
--- a/lib/dictBuilder/cover.c
+++ b/lib/dictBuilder/cover.c
@@ -970,7 +970,7 @@ ZDICTLIB_API size_t ZDICT_optimizeTrainFromBuffer_cover(
   /* constants */
   const unsigned nbThreads = parameters->nbThreads;
   const double splitPoint =
-      parameters->splitPoint == 0.0 ? DEFAULT_SPLITPOINT : parameters->splitPoint;
+      parameters->splitPoint <= 0.0 ? DEFAULT_SPLITPOINT : parameters->splitPoint;
   const unsigned kMinD = parameters->d == 0 ? 6 : parameters->d;
   const unsigned kMaxD = parameters->d == 0 ? 8 : parameters->d;
   const unsigned kMinK = parameters->k == 0 ? 50 : parameters->k;