diff --git a/modules/core/include/opencv2/core/mat.inl.hpp b/modules/core/include/opencv2/core/mat.inl.hpp
index 5f54d1ff8c..9b2da34e61 100644
--- a/modules/core/include/opencv2/core/mat.inl.hpp
+++ b/modules/core/include/opencv2/core/mat.inl.hpp
@@ -577,11 +577,9 @@ Mat::Mat(const std::vector<_Tp>& vec, bool copyData)
 #ifdef CV_CXX11
 template<typename _Tp, typename> inline
 Mat::Mat(const std::initializer_list<_Tp> list)
-    : flags(MAGIC_VAL | traits::Type<_Tp>::value | CV_MAT_CONT_FLAG), dims(2), rows((int)list.size()),
-      cols(1), data(0), datastart(0), dataend(0), datalimit(0), allocator(0), u(0), size(&rows), step(0)
+    : Mat()
 {
-    if(list.size() == 0)
-        return;
+    CV_Assert(list.size() != 0);
     Mat((int)list.size(), 1, traits::Type<_Tp>::value, (uchar*)list.begin()).copyTo(*this);
 }
 
@@ -590,11 +588,11 @@ Mat::Mat(const std::initializer_list<int> sizes, const std::initializer_list<_Tp
     : Mat()
 {
     size_t size_total = 1;
-    int *sz = (int*)sizes.begin();
     for(auto s : sizes)
         size_total *= s;
-    CV_Assert(list.size() != 0 || size_total == list.size());
-    Mat((int)sizes.size(), sz, traits::Type<_Tp>::value, (uchar*)list.begin()).copyTo(*this);
+    CV_Assert(list.size() != 0);
+    CV_Assert(size_total == list.size());
+    Mat((int)sizes.size(), (int*)sizes.begin(), traits::Type<_Tp>::value, (uchar*)list.begin()).copyTo(*this);
 }
 #endif
 
diff --git a/modules/core/test/test_mat.cpp b/modules/core/test/test_mat.cpp
index 14229acb2c..320e60d4d4 100644
--- a/modules/core/test/test_mat.cpp
+++ b/modules/core/test/test_mat.cpp
@@ -1724,6 +1724,10 @@ TEST(Mat, from_initializer_list)
     ASSERT_DOUBLE_EQ(cvtest::norm(A, B, NORM_INF), 0.);
     ASSERT_DOUBLE_EQ(cvtest::norm(A, C, NORM_INF), 0.);
     ASSERT_DOUBLE_EQ(cvtest::norm(B, C, NORM_INF), 0.);
+
+    auto D = Mat_<double>({2, 3}, {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6});
+    EXPECT_EQ(2, D.rows);
+    EXPECT_EQ(3, D.cols);
 }
 
 TEST(Mat_, from_initializer_list)