diff --git a/poi-ooxml/src/main/java/org/apache/poi/xwpf/usermodel/XWPFTable.java b/poi-ooxml/src/main/java/org/apache/poi/xwpf/usermodel/XWPFTable.java
index c9fe1cdd1e..33fc2a8d63 100644
--- a/poi-ooxml/src/main/java/org/apache/poi/xwpf/usermodel/XWPFTable.java
+++ b/poi-ooxml/src/main/java/org/apache/poi/xwpf/usermodel/XWPFTable.java
@@ -1250,12 +1250,13 @@ public class XWPFTable implements IBodyElement, ISDTContents {
      * A table width can be specified as an absolute measurement (an integer
      * number of twips), a percentage, or the value "AUTO".
      *
-     * @return The width type. Returns {@link TableWidthType#NIL} as a default.
+     * @return The width type. If table width information does not exist in the document,
+     * it returns {@link TableWidthType#AUTO}.
      * @since 4.0.0
      */
     public TableWidthType getWidthType() {
         CTTblPr pr = getTblPr(false);
-        return pr == null ? TableWidthType.NIL : getWidthType(pr.getTblW());
+        return pr != null && getTblPr().isSetTblW() ? getWidthType(pr.getTblW()) : TableWidthType.AUTO;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/poi-ooxml/src/test/java/org/apache/poi/xwpf/usermodel/TestXWPFTable.java b/poi-ooxml/src/test/java/org/apache/poi/xwpf/usermodel/TestXWPFTable.java
index 3bd3205036..8fe1f303c9 100644
--- a/poi-ooxml/src/test/java/org/apache/poi/xwpf/usermodel/TestXWPFTable.java
+++ b/poi-ooxml/src/test/java/org/apache/poi/xwpf/usermodel/TestXWPFTable.java
@@ -652,4 +652,14 @@ class TestXWPFTable {
             assertEquals(0, tbl.getIndent());
         }
     }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testGetTableWidthIfNotPresent() throws Exception {
+        try (XWPFDocument doc = XWPFTestDataSamples.openSampleDocument("table-indent.docx")) {
+            // The first table in this document doesn't have a tblW item.
+            XWPFTable table1 = doc.getTableArray(0);
+            assertEquals(-1,table1.getWidth());
+            assertEquals(TableWidthType.AUTO, table1.getWidthType());
+        }
+    }
 }