diff --git a/src/Math/Matrix.h b/src/Math/Matrix.h
index 8dfd40d93..540f46d7b 100644
--- a/src/Math/Matrix.h
+++ b/src/Math/Matrix.h
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ namespace Implementation {
  * @todo first col, then row (cache adjacency)
  */
 template<size_t size, class T> class Matrix {
+    static_assert(size != 0, "Matrix cannot have zero elements");
+
     friend class Matrix<size+1, T>; /* for ij() */
 
     public:
diff --git a/src/Math/Vector.h b/src/Math/Vector.h
index 7bd884fbc..6c4242529 100644
--- a/src/Math/Vector.h
+++ b/src/Math/Vector.h
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ namespace Implementation {
 
 /** @brief %Vector */
 template<size_t size, class T> class Vector {
+    static_assert(size != 0, "Vector cannot have zero elements");
+
     public:
         const static size_t Size = size;    /**< @brief %Vector size */
         typedef T Type;                     /**< @brief %Vector data type */