diff --git a/modules/photo/src/seamless_cloning.cpp b/modules/photo/src/seamless_cloning.cpp
index d09203577be4b3376ec0ba5b1515f402b7e1b774..d21a3f21fdcda2170e425c24343ba24a710306f0 100644
--- a/modules/photo/src/seamless_cloning.cpp
+++ b/modules/photo/src/seamless_cloning.cpp
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ static Mat checkMask(InputArray _mask, Size size)
 void cv::seamlessClone(InputArray _src, InputArray _dst, InputArray _mask, Point p, OutputArray _blend, int flags)
 {
     CV_INSTRUMENT_REGION();
+    CV_Assert(!_src.empty());
 
     const Mat src  = _src.getMat();
     const Mat dest = _dst.getMat();