diff --git a/utils/plots.py b/utils/plots.py
index 8bb5e98ba2b4..d6b83eac3d89 100644
--- a/utils/plots.py
+++ b/utils/plots.py
@@ -340,7 +340,10 @@ def plot_labels(labels, names=(), save_dir=Path('')):
     matplotlib.use('svg')  # faster
     ax = plt.subplots(2, 2, figsize=(8, 8), tight_layout=True)[1].ravel()
     y = ax[0].hist(c, bins=np.linspace(0, nc, nc + 1) - 0.5, rwidth=0.8)
-    [y[2].patches[i].set_color([x / 255 for x in colors(i)]) for i in range(nc)]  # update colors bug #3195
+    try:  # color histogram bars by class
+        [y[2].patches[i].set_color([x / 255 for x in colors(i)]) for i in range(nc)]  # known issue #3195
+    except Exception:
+        pass
     ax[0].set_ylabel('instances')
     if 0 < len(names) < 30:
         ax[0].set_xticks(range(len(names)))