diff --git a/docs/index.md b/docs/index.md
index 903fa2cf8..eccde8c83 100644
--- a/docs/index.md
+++ b/docs/index.md
@@ -978,6 +978,8 @@ Note that Go's type system does not allow you to write this as `ConsistOf([]stri
 
 succeeds if `ACTUAL` solely consists of elements that equal `ELEMENT`.  `ACTUAL` must be an `array`, `slice`, or `map` -- anything else is an error.  For `map`s `HaveEach` searches through the map's values (not keys!).
 
+In order to avoid ambiguity it is an error for `ACTUAL` to be an empty `array`, `slice`, or `map` (or a correctly typed `nil`) -- in these cases it cannot be decided if `HaveEach` should match, or should not match. If in your test it is acceptable for `ACTUAL` to be empty, you can use `Or(BeEmpty(), HaveEach(ELEMENT))` instead.
+
 By default `HaveEach()` uses the `Equal()` matcher under the hood to assert equality between `ACTUAL`'s elements and `ELEMENT`.  You can change this, however, by passing `HaveEach` a `GomegaMatcher`. For example, to check that a slice of strings has an element that matches a substring:
 
 ```go
diff --git a/matchers/have_each_matcher.go b/matchers/have_each_matcher.go
index 14eee470f..025b6e1ac 100644
--- a/matchers/have_each_matcher.go
+++ b/matchers/have_each_matcher.go
@@ -23,6 +23,11 @@ func (matcher *HaveEachMatcher) Match(actual interface{}) (success bool, err err
 	}
 
 	value := reflect.ValueOf(actual)
+	if value.Len() == 0 {
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("HaveEach matcher expects a non-empty array/slice/map.  Got:\n%s",
+			format.Object(actual, 1))
+	}
+
 	var valueAt func(int) interface{}
 	if isMap(actual) {
 		keys := value.MapKeys()
diff --git a/matchers/have_each_matcher_test.go b/matchers/have_each_matcher_test.go
index 8beb3e80b..284d03e44 100644
--- a/matchers/have_each_matcher_test.go
+++ b/matchers/have_each_matcher_test.go
@@ -10,8 +10,6 @@ var _ = Describe("HaveEach", func() {
 	When("passed a supported type", func() {
 		Context("and expecting a non-matcher", func() {
 			It("should do the right thing", func() {
-				Expect([]int{}).Should(HaveEach(42))
-
 				Expect([2]int{2, 2}).Should(HaveEach(2))
 				Expect([2]int{2, 3}).ShouldNot(HaveEach(3))
 
@@ -57,13 +55,25 @@ var _ = Describe("HaveEach", func() {
 		})
 	})
 
-	When("passed a correctly typed nil", func() {
-		It("should operate succesfully on the passed in value", func() {
+	When("passed an empty supported type or correctly typed nil", func() {
+		It("should error", func() {
+			success, err := (&HaveEachMatcher{Element: []int{}}).Match(42)
+			Expect(success).Should(BeFalse())
+			Expect(err).Should(HaveOccurred())
+
 			var nilSlice []int
-			Expect(nilSlice).Should(HaveEach(1))
+			success, err = (&HaveEachMatcher{Element: nilSlice}).Match(1)
+			Expect(success).Should(BeFalse())
+			Expect(err).Should(HaveOccurred())
 
 			var nilMap map[int]string
-			Expect(nilMap).Should(HaveEach("foo"))
+			success, err = (&HaveEachMatcher{Element: nilMap}).Match(1)
+			Expect(success).Should(BeFalse())
+			Expect(err).Should(HaveOccurred())
+
+			// again, we eat our own documentation food here...
+			Expect([]int{}).To(Or(BeEmpty(), HaveEach(42)))
+			Expect([]int{1}).NotTo(Or(BeEmpty(), HaveEach(42)))
 		})
 	})