diff --git a/src/host/construction.jl b/src/host/construction.jl
index a8da22d2..454ff3d9 100644
--- a/src/host/construction.jl
+++ b/src/host/construction.jl
@@ -59,6 +59,8 @@ function _one(unit::T, x::AbstractGPUMatrix) where {T}
     m,n = size(x)
     m==n || throw(DimensionMismatch("multiplicative identity defined only for square matrices"))
     I = similar(x, T)
+    isempty(I) && return I
+
     fill!(I, zero(T))
     kernel = identity_kernel(get_backend(I))
     kernel(I, m, unit; ndrange=m)
diff --git a/test/testsuite/construction.jl b/test/testsuite/construction.jl
index 0ed33933..50ae02e2 100644
--- a/test/testsuite/construction.jl
+++ b/test/testsuite/construction.jl
@@ -130,6 +130,10 @@
             @test A isa AT{T,2}
             @test Array(A) == one(rand(T, 2, 2))
 
+            A = one(AT(rand(T, 0, 0)))
+            @test A isa AT{T,2}
+            @test Array(A) == one(rand(T, 0, 0))
+
             A = oneunit(AT(rand(T, 2, 2)))
             @test A isa AT{T,2}
             @test Array(A) == oneunit(rand(T, 2, 2))
@@ -193,7 +197,7 @@
             x1 = AT{Float32, 2}(I, (0, 3))
 
             @test Array(x1) ≈ x
-            
+
             copyto!(x1, I)
             @test Array(x1) ≈ x
         end