diff --git a/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/codeInsight/hint/DocumentFragmentTooltipRenderer.java b/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/codeInsight/hint/DocumentFragmentTooltipRenderer.java
index 262b633457b7..e630db6d7f17 100644
--- a/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/codeInsight/hint/DocumentFragmentTooltipRenderer.java
+++ b/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/codeInsight/hint/DocumentFragmentTooltipRenderer.java
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ public class DocumentFragmentTooltipRenderer implements TooltipRenderer {
     if (endLine - startLine > maxLineCount) {
       endOffset = doc.getLineEndOffset(Math.max(0, Math.min(startLine + maxLineCount, doc.getLineCount() - 1)));
     }
+    if (endOffset < startOffset) return null;
 
     FoldingModelEx foldingModel = (FoldingModelEx)editor.getFoldingModel();
     foldingModel.setFoldingEnabled(false);