diff --git a/src/dtls12/client.rs b/src/dtls12/client.rs
index 78f6575..9357a7e 100644
--- a/src/dtls12/client.rs
+++ b/src/dtls12/client.rs
@@ -128,6 +128,10 @@ impl Client {
         certificate: DtlsCertificate,
         now: Instant,
     ) -> Result<Client, Error> {
+        assert!(
+            !certificate.certificate.is_empty(),
+            "Client certificate cannot be empty"
+        );
         // unwrap: malformed private_key bytes are a programmer error from the
         // caller who constructed DtlsCertificate; panic matches the prior
         // CryptoContext::new behavior which also panicked on empty/invalid
diff --git a/src/dtls12/server.rs b/src/dtls12/server.rs
index 9eac727..8d3d335 100644
--- a/src/dtls12/server.rs
+++ b/src/dtls12/server.rs
@@ -126,6 +126,10 @@ enum State {
 impl Server {
     /// Create a new DTLS server
     pub fn new(config: Arc<Config>, certificate: crate::DtlsCertificate, now: Instant) -> Server {
+        assert!(
+            !certificate.certificate.is_empty(),
+            "Server certificate cannot be empty"
+        );
         // unwrap: malformed private_key bytes are a programmer error from the
         // caller who constructed DtlsCertificate; panic matches the prior
         // CryptoContext::new behavior which also panicked on empty/invalid
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index fc446ca..f6dc043 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -876,6 +876,18 @@ mod test {
         let _ = Dtls::new_12_psk(config, Instant::now());
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    #[should_panic(expected = "Server certificate cannot be empty")]
+    fn new_12_panics_on_empty_certificate() {
+        let cert = generate_self_signed_certificate().expect("Failed to generate cert");
+        let config = Arc::new(Config::default());
+        let empty = DtlsCertificate {
+            certificate: vec![],
+            private_key: cert.private_key,
+        };
+        let _ = Dtls::new_12(config, empty, Instant::now());
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn test_auto_server_send_application_data_pending() {
         let mut dtls = new_instance_auto();