diff --git a/rest_framework/viewsets.py b/rest_framework/viewsets.py
index 84b4bd8dd9..70d14695bf 100644
--- a/rest_framework/viewsets.py
+++ b/rest_framework/viewsets.py
@@ -48,6 +48,12 @@ def as_view(cls, actions=None, **initkwargs):
         # eg. 'List' or 'Instance'.
         cls.suffix = None
 
+        # actions must not be empty
+        if not actions:
+            raise TypeError("The `actions` argument must be provided when "
+                            "calling `.as_view()` on a ViewSet. For example "
+                            "`.as_view({'get': 'list'})`")
+
         # sanitize keyword arguments
         for key in initkwargs:
             if key in cls.http_method_names:
diff --git a/tests/test_viewsets.py b/tests/test_viewsets.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4d18a955dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_viewsets.py
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+from django.test import TestCase
+from rest_framework import status
+from rest_framework.response import Response
+from rest_framework.test import APIRequestFactory
+from rest_framework.viewsets import GenericViewSet
+
+
+factory = APIRequestFactory()
+
+
+class BasicViewSet(GenericViewSet):
+    def list(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
+        return Response({'ACTION': 'LIST'})
+
+
+class InitializeViewSetsTestCase(TestCase):
+    def test_initialize_view_set_with_actions(self):
+        request = factory.get('/', '', content_type='application/json')
+        my_view = BasicViewSet.as_view(actions={
+            'get': 'list',
+        })
+
+        response = my_view(request)
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, status.HTTP_200_OK)
+        self.assertEqual(response.data, {'ACTION': 'LIST'})
+
+    def test_initialize_view_set_with_empty_actions(self):
+        try:
+            BasicViewSet.as_view()
+        except TypeError as e:
+            self.assertEqual(str(e), "The `actions` argument must be provided "
+                                     "when calling `.as_view()` on a ViewSet. "
+                                     "For example `.as_view({'get': 'list'})`")
+        else:
+            self.fail("actions must not be empty.")