diff --git a/src/utils.jl b/src/utils.jl
index 5f4e9936..04ca24b1 100644
--- a/src/utils.jl
+++ b/src/utils.jl
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ end
 map_params_as_tuple_fallback(f, ::Type{T}) where {T<:Tup} = map(f, fieldtypes(T))
 
 buildfromschema(initializer::F, ::Type{T}) where {F, T} = buildfromschema(initializer, T, staticschema(T))
+buildfromschema(initializer, ::Type, ::Type{NamedTuple{(), Tuple{}}}) = error("Only structs with fields are supported")
 
 """
     StructArrays.buildfromschema(initializer, T[, S])
diff --git a/test/runtests.jl b/test/runtests.jl
index aabf8c90..19d789cd 100644
--- a/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/test/runtests.jl
@@ -433,6 +433,9 @@ end
     t = StructVector([(a=1,), (a=missing,)])::StructVector
     @test isequal(t.a, [1, missing])
     @test eltype(t) <: NamedTuple{(:a,)}
+
+    @test_throws Exception StructArray([nothing])
+    @test_throws Exception StructArray([1, 2, 3])
 end
 
 @testset "tuple case" begin