diff --git a/modules/features2d/include/opencv2/features2d/features2d.hpp b/modules/features2d/include/opencv2/features2d/features2d.hpp
index c83fea0db..6a555cbb4 100644
--- a/modules/features2d/include/opencv2/features2d/features2d.hpp
+++ b/modules/features2d/include/opencv2/features2d/features2d.hpp
@@ -1650,7 +1650,7 @@ void BruteForceMatcher<Distance>::matchImpl( const Mat& descriptors_1, const Mat
 
     assert( mask.empty() || (mask.rows == descriptors_1.rows && mask.cols == descriptors_2.rows) );
 
-    assert( descriptors_1.cols == descriptors_2.cols );
+    assert( descriptors_1.cols == descriptors_2.cols ||  descriptors_1.empty() ||  descriptors_2.empty() );
     assert( DataType<ValueType>::type == descriptors_1.type() ||  descriptors_1.empty() );
     assert( DataType<ValueType>::type == descriptors_2.type() ||  descriptors_2.empty() );