diff --git a/lucene/core/src/test/org/apache/lucene/util/automaton/TestAutomaton.java b/lucene/core/src/test/org/apache/lucene/util/automaton/TestAutomaton.java
index efb542450eb..75eedd967fa 100644
--- a/lucene/core/src/test/org/apache/lucene/util/automaton/TestAutomaton.java
+++ b/lucene/core/src/test/org/apache/lucene/util/automaton/TestAutomaton.java
@@ -589,6 +589,7 @@ public class TestAutomaton extends LuceneTestCase {
         if (VERBOSE) {
           System.out.println("  randomNoOp: skip op=minimize: too many states (" + a.getNumStates() + ")");
         }
+        return a;
       }
     case 2:
       if (VERBOSE) {