diff --git a/plugins/libplugin-pay.c b/plugins/libplugin-pay.c
index 056c9ddcc718..eb46dbabfd6f 100644
--- a/plugins/libplugin-pay.c
+++ b/plugins/libplugin-pay.c
@@ -2911,7 +2911,10 @@ static struct routehints_data *routehint_data_init(struct payment *p)
 			 * payments to have fairly diverse initial
 			 * routehints.
 			 */
-			d->base = (p->partid - 1) % num_routehints;
+			if (num_routehints == 0)
+				d->base = 0;
+			else
+				d->base = (p->partid - 1) % num_routehints;
 		}
 		return d;
 	} else {