diff --git a/Lib/distutils/dist.py b/Lib/distutils/dist.py
index 3391e53f5ea..de4f7ef0a28 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/dist.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/dist.py
@@ -711,7 +711,7 @@ def reinitialize_command (self, command):
             command_name = command.get_command_name()
 
         if not command.finalized:
-            return
+            return command
         command.initialize_options()
         command.finalized = 0
         self._set_command_options(command)