diff --git a/modules/ptcloud/src/io_ply.cpp b/modules/ptcloud/src/io_ply.cpp
index 9652bda8aa..5d9b025e46 100644
--- a/modules/ptcloud/src/io_ply.cpp
+++ b/modules/ptcloud/src/io_ply.cpp
@@ -50,11 +50,16 @@ bool PlyDecoder::parseHeader(std::ifstream &file, int& nTexCoords)
     {
         e = trimSpaces(e);
     }
-    if (splitArr[0] != "format")
+    if (splitArr.empty() || splitArr[0] != "format")
     {
         CV_LOG_ERROR(NULL, "Provided file doesn't have format");
         return false;
     }
+    if (splitArr.size() < 2)
+    {
+        CV_LOG_ERROR(NULL, "Provided PLY file format is not supported");
+        return false;
+    }
     if (splitArr[1] == "ascii")
     {
         m_inputDataFormat = DataFormat::ASCII;
@@ -104,7 +109,13 @@ bool PlyDecoder::parseHeader(std::ifstream &file, int& nTexCoords)
             {
                 e = trimSpaces(e);
             }
-            std::string elemName = splitArrElem.at(1);
+            if (splitArrElem.size() < 2)
+            {
+                CV_LOG_ERROR(NULL, "Element description has " << splitArrElem.size()
+                             << " words instead of at least 2");
+                return false;
+            }
+            std::string elemName = splitArrElem[1];
             if (elemName == "vertex")
             {
                 elemRead = READ_VERTEX;
diff --git a/modules/ptcloud/test/test_pointcloud_io.cpp b/modules/ptcloud/test/test_pointcloud_io.cpp
index e18c54d66e..4dbf2e3eb2 100644
--- a/modules/ptcloud/test/test_pointcloud_io.cpp
+++ b/modules/ptcloud/test/test_pointcloud_io.cpp
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #include <opencv2/core.hpp>
 #include <vector>
 #include <cstdio>
+#include <fstream>
 
 #include "test_precomp.hpp"
 #include "opencv2/ts.hpp"
@@ -296,4 +297,43 @@ TEST(PointCloud, SaveBadExtension)
     cv::savePointCloud(folder + "pointcloudio/fake.fake", points, normals);
 }
 
+TEST(PointCloud, LoadPlyEmptyFormatLine)
+{
+    std::string path = tempfile("empty_format.ply");
+    std::ofstream file(path, std::ios::binary);
+    file << "ply\n\n";
+    file.close();
+
+    std::vector<cv::Point3f> points, normals, rgb;
+    cv::loadPointCloud(path, points, normals, rgb);
+    EXPECT_TRUE(points.empty());
+    std::remove(path.c_str());
+}
+
+TEST(PointCloud, LoadPlyFormatLineNoSeparator)
+{
+    std::string path = tempfile("no_separator_format.ply");
+    std::ofstream file(path, std::ios::binary);
+    file << "ply\nformat\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\n";
+    file.close();
+
+    std::vector<cv::Point3f> points, normals, rgb;
+    cv::loadPointCloud(path, points, normals, rgb);
+    EXPECT_TRUE(points.empty());
+    std::remove(path.c_str());
+}
+
+TEST(PointCloud, LoadPlyMalformedElementLine)
+{
+    std::string path = tempfile("malformed_element.ply");
+    std::ofstream file(path, std::ios::binary);
+    file << "ply\nformat ascii 1.0\nelement\nend_header\n";
+    file.close();
+
+    std::vector<cv::Point3f> points, normals, rgb;
+    cv::loadPointCloud(path, points, normals, rgb);
+    EXPECT_TRUE(points.empty());
+    std::remove(path.c_str());
+}
+
 }} /* namespace opencv_test */