diff --git a/src/spatialdata_plot/pl/utils.py b/src/spatialdata_plot/pl/utils.py
index 9d3b2954..59045022 100644
--- a/src/spatialdata_plot/pl/utils.py
+++ b/src/spatialdata_plot/pl/utils.py
@@ -1120,7 +1120,7 @@ def _set_color_source_vec(
             raise ValueError("Unable to create color palette.")
 
         # do not rename categories, as colors need not be unique
-        color_vector = color_source_vector.map(color_mapping)
+        color_vector = color_source_vector.map(color_mapping, na_action="ignore")
 
         return color_source_vector, color_vector, True