diff --git a/src/hb-shape.cc b/src/hb-shape.cc
index 83d3a04ea..627625451 100644
--- a/src/hb-shape.cc
+++ b/src/hb-shape.cc
@@ -126,6 +126,9 @@ hb_shape_full (hb_font_t          *font,
 	       unsigned int        num_features,
 	       const char * const *shaper_list)
 {
+  if (unlikely (!buffer->len))
+    return true;
+
   hb_buffer_t *text_buffer = nullptr;
   if (buffer->flags & HB_BUFFER_FLAG_VERIFY)
   {