diff --git a/src/hotspot/share/utilities/copy.hpp b/src/hotspot/share/utilities/copy.hpp
index 3c2756169ae3c..5b2e6b8cd9162 100644
--- a/src/hotspot/share/utilities/copy.hpp
+++ b/src/hotspot/share/utilities/copy.hpp
@@ -211,6 +211,7 @@ class Copy : AllStatic {
     // byte_count is in bytes to check its alignment
     assert_params_ok(from, to, HeapWordSize);
     assert_byte_count_ok(byte_count, HeapWordSize);
+    if (byte_count == 0) return;
 
     size_t count = align_up(byte_count, HeapWordSize) >> LogHeapWordSize;
     assert(from <= to || to + count <= from, "do not overwrite source data");