diff --git a/Eigen/src/Sparse/SparseMatrix.h b/Eigen/src/Sparse/SparseMatrix.h
index 03bc60bb5..b751b5cb9 100644
--- a/Eigen/src/Sparse/SparseMatrix.h
+++ b/Eigen/src/Sparse/SparseMatrix.h
@@ -371,7 +371,7 @@ class SparseMatrix
       const int outerSize = IsRowMajor ? rows : cols;
       m_innerSize = IsRowMajor ? cols : rows;
       m_data.clear();
-      if (m_outerSize != outerSize)
+      if (m_outerSize != outerSize || m_outerSize==0)
       {
         delete[] m_outerIndex;
         m_outerIndex = new int [outerSize+1];