diff --git a/storage/local/storage.go b/storage/local/storage.go
index acd9c8f0a8..a7ce573959 100644
--- a/storage/local/storage.go
+++ b/storage/local/storage.go
@@ -171,6 +171,8 @@ func (s *memorySeriesStorage) preloadChunksForRange(fp clientmodel.Fingerprint,
 				return nil, err
 			}
 			series = s.getOrCreateSeries(fp, metric)
+		} else {
+			return nil, nil
 		}
 	}
 	return series.preloadChunksForRange(from, through, s.persistence)