diff --git a/repos/base/include/util/bit_array.h b/repos/base/include/util/bit_array.h
index 71599fa6ae..e0a0f5f77d 100644
--- a/repos/base/include/util/bit_array.h
+++ b/repos/base/include/util/bit_array.h
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ namespace Genode {
 			  _word_cnt(_bit_cnt / _BITS_PER_WORD),
 			  _words(addr)
 			{
-				if (bits % _BITS_PER_WORD) throw Invalid_bit_count();
+				if (!bits || bits % _BITS_PER_WORD) throw Invalid_bit_count();
 
 				memset(_words, 0, sizeof(addr_t)*_word_cnt);
 			}