diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py
index adbf440cb131..3e71bba75a27 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py
@@ -4187,7 +4187,7 @@ def scatter(self, x, y, s=None, c=None, marker=None, cmap=None, norm=None,
         if (c_none or
                 co is not None or
                 isinstance(c, str) or
-                (isinstance(c, collections.Iterable) and
+                (isinstance(c, collections.Iterable) and len(c) > 0 and
                     isinstance(c[0], str))):
             c_array = None
         else:
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py
index b4879e3b208a..679f6e42d1eb 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py
@@ -1741,6 +1741,11 @@ def test_scatter_color(self):
         with pytest.raises(ValueError):
             plt.scatter([1, 2, 3], [1, 2, 3], color=[1, 2, 3])
 
+    def test_scatter_empty(self):
+        # just making sure this does not raise an exception
+        plt.scatter([], [])
+        plt.scatter([], [], s=[], c=[])
+
     # Parameters for *test_scatter_c*. NB: assuming that the
     # scatter plot will have 4 elements. The tuple scheme is:
     # (*c* parameter case, exception regexp key or None if no exception)