diff --git a/src/kernel/building.c b/src/kernel/building.c
index 77718e2ea..90bfced16 100644
--- a/src/kernel/building.c
+++ b/src/kernel/building.c
@@ -643,12 +643,9 @@ bool is_building_type(const struct building_type *btype, const char *name) {
 building *largestbuilding(const region * r, cmp_building_cb cmp_gt,
     bool imaginary)
 {
-    building *b, *best = r->buildings;
+    building *b, *best = NULL;
 
-    if (!best) {
-        return NULL;
-    }
-    for (b = best->next; b; b = b->next) {
+    for (b = r->buildings; b; b = b->next) {
         if (cmp_gt(b, best) <= 0)
             continue;
         if (!imaginary) {
diff --git a/src/kernel/building.test.c b/src/kernel/building.test.c
index 233212026..bbe8447b5 100644
--- a/src/kernel/building.test.c
+++ b/src/kernel/building.test.c
@@ -536,7 +536,8 @@ static void test_building_effsize(CuTest *tc) {
 }
 
 static int cmp_size(const building *lhs, const building *rhs) {
-    return lhs->size - rhs->size;
+    assert(lhs);
+    return rhs ? lhs->size - rhs->size : 1;
 }
 
 static void test_largestbuilding(CuTest *tc) {