diff --git a/src/common/column_matrix.h b/src/common/column_matrix.h
index 9822593e9..4a1ab918d 100644
--- a/src/common/column_matrix.h
+++ b/src/common/column_matrix.h
@@ -163,7 +163,8 @@ class ColumnMatrix {
      to determine type of bin id's */
   inline Column GetColumn(unsigned fid) const {
     Column c(type_[fid], &index_[boundary_[fid].index_begin], index_base_[fid],
-             &row_ind_[boundary_[fid].row_ind_begin],
+             (type_[fid] == ColumnType::kSparseColumn ?
+              &row_ind_[boundary_[fid].row_ind_begin] : nullptr),
              boundary_[fid].index_end - boundary_[fid].index_begin);
     return c;
   }