diff --git a/modules/flann/include/opencv2/flann/kdtree_index.h b/modules/flann/include/opencv2/flann/kdtree_index.h
index a279aeae77..1b732b6037 100644
--- a/modules/flann/include/opencv2/flann/kdtree_index.h
+++ b/modules/flann/include/opencv2/flann/kdtree_index.h
@@ -95,6 +95,9 @@ public:
 
         trees_ = get_param(index_params_,"trees",4);
         tree_roots_ = new NodePtr[trees_];
+        for (int i = 0; i < trees_; ++i) {
+            tree_roots_[i] = NULL;
+        }
 
         // Create a permutable array of indices to the input vectors.
         vind_.resize(size_);
@@ -127,6 +130,13 @@ public:
      */
     void buildIndex() CV_OVERRIDE
     {
+        if (size_ == 0) {
+            for (int i = 0; i < trees_; i++) {
+                tree_roots_[i] = NULL;
+            }
+            return;
+        }
+
         /* Construct the randomized trees. */
         for (int i = 0; i < trees_; i++) {
             /* Randomize the order of vectors to allow for unbiased sampling. */
@@ -136,7 +146,7 @@ public:
             std::random_shuffle(vind_.begin(), vind_.end());
 #endif
 
-            tree_roots_[i] = divideTree(&vind_[0], int(size_) );
+            tree_roots_[i] = divideTree(vind_.data(), int(size_) );
         }
     }
 
@@ -208,6 +218,8 @@ public:
      */
     void findNeighbors(ResultSet<DistanceType>& result, const ElementType* vec, const SearchParams& searchParams) CV_OVERRIDE
     {
+        if (size_ == 0) return;
+
         const int maxChecks = get_param(searchParams,"checks", 32);
         const float epsError = 1+get_param(searchParams,"eps",0.0f);
         const bool explore_all_trees = get_param(searchParams,"explore_all_trees",false);
@@ -286,6 +298,10 @@ private:
      */
     NodePtr divideTree(int* ind, int count)
     {
+        if (count <= 0) {
+            return NULL;
+        }
+
         NodePtr node = pool_.allocate<Node>(); // allocate memory
 
         /* If too few exemplars remain, then make this a leaf node. */
@@ -481,6 +497,10 @@ private:
     void searchLevel(ResultSet<DistanceType>& result_set, const ElementType* vec, NodePtr node, DistanceType mindist, int& checkCount, int maxCheck,
                      float epsError, const cv::Ptr<Heap<BranchSt>>& heap, DynamicBitset& checked, bool explore_all_trees = false)
     {
+        if (node == NULL) {
+            return;
+        }
+
         if (result_set.worstDist()<mindist) {
             //			printf("Ignoring branch, too far\n");
             return;
@@ -535,6 +555,10 @@ private:
      */
     void searchLevelExact(ResultSet<DistanceType>& result_set, const ElementType* vec, const NodePtr node, DistanceType mindist, const float epsError)
     {
+        if (node == NULL) {
+            return;
+        }
+
         /* If this is a leaf node, then do check and return. */
         if ((node->child1 == NULL)&&(node->child2 == NULL)) {
             int index = node->divfeat;
diff --git a/modules/flann/test/test_radius_search.cpp b/modules/flann/test/test_radius_search.cpp
index 5973a2380e..03d4ae7847 100644
--- a/modules/flann/test/test_radius_search.cpp
+++ b/modules/flann/test/test_radius_search.cpp
@@ -78,4 +78,31 @@ TEST(Flann_Index, radiusSearch_output_size_matches_returned_count)
     }
 }
 
+TEST(Flann_Index, empty_data_build_and_search)
+{
+    cv::flann::KDTreeIndexParams indexParams(1);
+    cv::Mat data(0, 2, CV_32F);
+    cv::flann::Index index(data, indexParams);
+
+    cv::Mat query = (cv::Mat_<float>(1, 2) << 1.0f, 2.0f);
+    std::vector<int> indices;
+    std::vector<float> dists;
+    int nn = index.radiusSearch(query, indices, dists, 100, 4);
+    EXPECT_EQ(nn, 0);
+    EXPECT_TRUE(indices.empty());
+}
+
+TEST(Flann_GenericIndex, empty_data_kdtree)
+{
+    cv::Mat_<double> features(0, 3);
+    cv::flann::GenericIndex<cvflann::L2_Simple<double>> index(
+        features, cvflann::KDTreeIndexParams(1));
+
+    std::vector<double> query = {1.0, 2.0, 3.0};
+    std::vector<int> indices(5, -1);
+    std::vector<double> distances(5, 0.0);
+    index.radiusSearch(query, indices, distances, 1.0, cvflann::SearchParams(-1));
+    EXPECT_EQ(indices[0], -1);
+}
+
 }} // namespace