diff --git a/meshmode/mesh/refinement/utils.py b/meshmode/mesh/refinement/utils.py
index 936f91078d8be425b65aed46b727880e298f5965..751142aa6d67ff7717b017ebe83f13a18e216ef3 100644
--- a/meshmode/mesh/refinement/utils.py
+++ b/meshmode/mesh/refinement/utils.py
@@ -94,7 +94,8 @@ def check_nodal_adj_against_geometry(mesh, tol=1e-12):
                     is_in_element_span = (
                             residual.size == 0 or
                             np.linalg.norm(vertex_transformed) == 0 or
-                            residual / np.linalg.norm(vertex_transformed) <= tol)
+                            (np.linalg.norm(residual) /
+                                np.linalg.norm(vertex_transformed)) <= tol)
 
                     is_connected = (
                             is_in_element_span