diff --git a/paddle/gserver/layers/SequenceReshapeLayer.cpp b/paddle/gserver/layers/SequenceReshapeLayer.cpp
index 433592953b220eda4db4634124a57a2074cef4c0..822974407283c9ee6d0efee71bc945bc418b1942 100644
--- a/paddle/gserver/layers/SequenceReshapeLayer.cpp
+++ b/paddle/gserver/layers/SequenceReshapeLayer.cpp
@@ -70,11 +70,23 @@ void SequenceReshapeLayer::forward(PassType passType) {
   size_t outDim = getSize();
 
   size_t numSequences = input.getNumSequences();
-  auto startPositions = input.sequenceStartPositions->getVector(false);
-  const int* starts = startPositions->getData();
 
-  CHECK_EQ(starts[numSequences], input.getBatchSize());
-  CHECK_EQ(numSequences, startPositions->getSize() - 1);
+  // by default, we assume each instance as a sequence
+  IVectorPtr seqStarts;
+  IVector::resizeOrCreate(seqStarts, input.getBatchSize() + 1, false);
+  int* startsData = seqStarts->getData();
+  for (int i = 0; i < input.getBatchSize() + 1; i++) {
+    startsData[i] = i;
+  }
+  const int* starts = startsData;
+
+  // if there is sequence, then use start positions
+  if (input.sequenceStartPositions) {
+    auto startPositions = input.sequenceStartPositions->getVector(false);
+    starts = startPositions->getData();
+    CHECK_EQ(starts[numSequences], input.getBatchSize());
+    CHECK_EQ(numSequences, startPositions->getSize() - 1);
+  }
 
   for (size_t seqID = 0; seqID < numSequences; seqID++) {
     size_t inNumIns = starts[seqID + 1] - starts[seqID];