diff --git a/sycl/source/handler.cpp b/sycl/source/handler.cpp
index aa349c90a6f33..e39e83d1892d0 100644
--- a/sycl/source/handler.cpp
+++ b/sycl/source/handler.cpp
@@ -543,6 +543,9 @@ void handler::processArg(void *Ptr, const detail::kernel_param_kind_t &Kind,
       int SizeInBytes = LAcc->MElemSize;
       for (int I = 0; I < Dims; ++I)
         SizeInBytes *= Size[I];
+      // Some backends do not accept zero-sized local memory arguments, so we
+      // make it a minimum allocation of 1 byte.
+      SizeInBytes = std::max(SizeInBytes, 1);
       MArgs.emplace_back(kernel_param_kind_t::kind_std_layout, nullptr,
                          SizeInBytes, Index + IndexShift);
       if (!IsKernelCreatedFromSource) {