diff --git a/tensorflow/c/c_api.cc b/tensorflow/c/c_api.cc
index dbb5c760f8e..97846af6408 100644
--- a/tensorflow/c/c_api.cc
+++ b/tensorflow/c/c_api.cc
@@ -1344,6 +1344,10 @@ void TF_OperationGetAttrString(TF_Operation* oper, const char* attr_name,
         InvalidArgument("Attribute '", attr_name, "' is not a string");
     return;
   }
+  if (max_length == 0) {
+    InvalidArgument("Attribute '", max_length, "' is zero");
+    return;
+  }
   const auto& s = attr->s();
   std::memcpy(value, s.data(), std::min<size_t>(s.length(), max_length));
 }