diff --git a/analysis_templates/cms_minimal/law.cfg b/analysis_templates/cms_minimal/law.cfg
index 4bed389aa..8a2356008 100644
--- a/analysis_templates/cms_minimal/law.cfg
+++ b/analysis_templates/cms_minimal/law.cfg
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ default_keep_reduced_events: True
 # slightly to the left to avoid them being excluded from the last bin; None leads to automatic mode
 default_histogram_last_edge_inclusive: None
 
+# boolean flag that, if True, sets the *hists* output of cf.SelectEvents and cf.MergeSelectionStats to optional
+default_selection_hists_optional: True
+
 # wether or not the ensure_proxy decorator should be skipped, even if used by task's run methods
 skip_ensure_proxy: False
 
diff --git a/columnflow/tasks/selection.py b/columnflow/tasks/selection.py
index a74c1fc44..8f032b532 100644
--- a/columnflow/tasks/selection.py
+++ b/columnflow/tasks/selection.py
@@ -15,12 +15,21 @@
 from columnflow.tasks.external import GetDatasetLFNs
 from columnflow.tasks.calibration import CalibrateEvents
 from columnflow.production import Producer
-from columnflow.util import maybe_import, ensure_proxy, dev_sandbox, safe_div
+from columnflow.util import maybe_import, ensure_proxy, dev_sandbox, safe_div, DotDict
 
 np = maybe_import("numpy")
 ak = maybe_import("awkward")
 
 
+logger = law.logger.get_logger(__name__)
+
+default_selection_hists_optional = law.config.get_expanded_bool(
+    "analysis",
+    "default_selection_hists_optional",
+    True,
+)
+
+
 class SelectEvents(
     SelectorMixin,
     CalibratorsMixin,
@@ -29,6 +38,9 @@ class SelectEvents(
     law.LocalWorkflow,
     RemoteWorkflow,
 ):
+    # flag that sets the *hists* output to optional if True
+    selection_hists_optional = default_selection_hists_optional
+
     # default sandbox, might be overwritten by selector function
     sandbox = dev_sandbox(law.config.get("analysis", "default_columnar_sandbox"))
 
@@ -85,6 +97,7 @@ def output(self):
         outputs = {
             "results": self.target(f"results_{self.branch}.parquet"),
             "stats": self.target(f"stats_{self.branch}.json"),
+            "hists": self.target(f"hists_{self.branch}.pickle", optional=self.selection_hists_optional),
         }
 
         # add additional columns in case the selector produces some
@@ -112,6 +125,7 @@ def run(self):
         result_chunks = {}
         column_chunks = {}
         stats = defaultdict(float)
+        hists = DotDict()
 
         # run the selector setup
         reader_targets = self.selector_inst.run_setup(reqs["selector"], inputs["selector"])
@@ -182,7 +196,7 @@ def run(self):
                 )
 
                 # invoke the selection function
-                events, results = self.selector_inst(events, stats)
+                events, results = self.selector_inst(events, stats, hists=hists)
 
                 # complain when there is no event mask
                 if results.event is None:
@@ -232,6 +246,7 @@ def run(self):
 
         # save stats
         outputs["stats"].dump(stats, indent=4, formatter="json")
+        outputs["hists"].dump(hists, formatter="pickle")
 
         # print some stats
         eff = safe_div(stats["num_events_selected"], stats["num_events"])
@@ -273,6 +288,12 @@ class MergeSelectionStats(
     DatasetTask,
     law.tasks.ForestMerge,
 ):
+    # flag that sets the *hists* output to optional if True
+    selection_hists_optional = default_selection_hists_optional
+
+    # default sandbox, might be overwritten by selector function (needed to load hist objects)
+    sandbox = dev_sandbox(law.config.get("analysis", "default_columnar_sandbox"))
+
     # merge 25 stats files into 1 at every step of the merging cascade
     merge_factor = 25
 
@@ -300,7 +321,10 @@ def merge_requires(self, start_branch, end_branch):
         )
 
     def merge_output(self):
-        return {"stats": self.target("stats.json")}
+        return {
+            "stats": self.target("stats.json"),
+            "hists": self.target("hists.pickle", optional=self.selection_hists_optional),
+        }
 
     def trace_merge_inputs(self, inputs):
         return super().trace_merge_inputs(inputs["collection"].targets.values())
@@ -312,12 +336,29 @@ def run(self):
     def merge(self, inputs, output):
         # merge input stats
         merged_stats = defaultdict(float)
+        merged_hists = {}
+
+        # check that hists are present for all inputs
+        hist_inputs_exist = [inp["hists"].exists() for inp in inputs]
+        if any(hist_inputs_exist) and not all(hist_inputs_exist):
+            logger.warning(
+                f"For dataset {self.dataset_inst.name}, cf.SelectEvents has produced hists for "
+                "some but not all files. Histograms will not be merged and an empty pickle file will be stored.",
+            )
+
         for inp in inputs:
             stats = inp["stats"].load(formatter="json", cache=False)
             self.merge_counts(merged_stats, stats)
 
+        # merge hists only if all hists are present
+        if all(hist_inputs_exist):
+            for inp in inputs:
+                hists = inp["hists"].load(formatter="pickle", cache=False)
+                self.merge_counts(merged_hists, hists)
+
         # write the output
         output["stats"].dump(merged_stats, indent=4, formatter="json", cache=False)
+        output["hists"].dump(merged_hists, formatter="pickle", cache=False)
 
     @classmethod
     def merge_counts(cls, dst: dict, src: dict) -> dict:
diff --git a/law.cfg b/law.cfg
index e8491204a..c946a7880 100644
--- a/law.cfg
+++ b/law.cfg
@@ -43,6 +43,9 @@ default_keep_reduced_events: True
 # slightly to the left to avoid them being excluded from the last bin; None leads to automatic mode
 default_histogram_last_edge_inclusive: None
 
+# boolean flag that, if True, sets the *hists* output of cf.SelectEvents and cf.MergeSelectionStats to optional
+default_selection_hists_optional: True
+
 # wether or not the ensure_proxy decorator should be skipped, even if used by task's run methods
 skip_ensure_proxy: False