diff --git a/modules/svg/midpoints.js b/modules/svg/midpoints.js
index a64b92225..112348492 100644
--- a/modules/svg/midpoints.js
+++ b/modules/svg/midpoints.js
@@ -15,6 +15,13 @@ import {
 export function svgMidpoints(projection, context) {
 
     return function drawMidpoints(selection, graph, entities, filter, extent) {
+        var layer = selection.selectAll('.layer-hit');
+
+        if (context.mode().id !== 'select') {
+            layer.selectAll('g.midpoint').remove();
+            return;
+        }
+
         var poly = extent.polygon(),
             midpoints = {};
 
@@ -86,8 +93,6 @@ export function svgMidpoints(projection, context) {
         }
 
 
-        var layer = selection.selectAll('.layer-hit');
-
         var groups = layer
             .selectAll('g.midpoint')
             .filter(midpointFilter)