diff --git a/presto-orc/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/orc/reader/BooleanSelectiveStreamReader.java b/presto-orc/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/orc/reader/BooleanSelectiveStreamReader.java
index 4ff2f33524f8..ce5574e8f216 100644
--- a/presto-orc/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/orc/reader/BooleanSelectiveStreamReader.java
+++ b/presto-orc/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/orc/reader/BooleanSelectiveStreamReader.java
@@ -150,6 +150,7 @@ private void openRowGroup()
     public int read(int offset, int[] positions, int positionCount)
             throws IOException
     {
+        checkArgument(positionCount > 0, "positionCount must be greater than zero");
         checkState(!valuesInUse, "BlockLease hasn't been closed yet");
 
         if (!rowGroupOpen) {
diff --git a/presto-orc/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/orc/reader/ListSelectiveStreamReader.java b/presto-orc/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/orc/reader/ListSelectiveStreamReader.java
index a391aff933f6..930ba730017f 100644
--- a/presto-orc/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/orc/reader/ListSelectiveStreamReader.java
+++ b/presto-orc/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/orc/reader/ListSelectiveStreamReader.java
@@ -189,6 +189,7 @@ private static Optional<TupleDomainFilter> getTopLevelFilter(Map<Subfield, Tuple
     public int read(int offset, int[] positions, int positionCount)
             throws IOException
     {
+        checkArgument(positionCount > 0, "positionCount must be greater than zero");
         checkState(!valuesInUse, "BlockLease hasn't been closed yet");
 
         if (!rowGroupOpen) {
@@ -369,7 +370,7 @@ private int readNotAllNulls(int[] positions, int positionCount)
             listFilter.populateElementFilters(outputPositionCount, nulls, elementLengths, elementPositionCount);
         }
 
-        if (elementStreamReader != null) {
+        if (elementStreamReader != null && elementPositionCount > 0) {
             elementStreamReader.read(elementReadOffset, elementPositions, elementPositionCount);
         }
         elementReadOffset += elementPositionCount + skippedElements;
diff --git a/presto-orc/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/orc/reader/LongDictionarySelectiveStreamReader.java b/presto-orc/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/orc/reader/LongDictionarySelectiveStreamReader.java
index aedcb432e80a..0fe655e393a6 100644
--- a/presto-orc/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/orc/reader/LongDictionarySelectiveStreamReader.java
+++ b/presto-orc/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/orc/reader/LongDictionarySelectiveStreamReader.java
@@ -97,6 +97,8 @@ public LongDictionarySelectiveStreamReader(
     public int read(int offset, int[] positions, int positionCount)
             throws IOException
     {
+        checkArgument(positionCount > 0, "positionCount must be greater than zero");
+
         if (!rowGroupOpen) {
             openRowGroup();
         }
diff --git a/presto-orc/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/orc/reader/LongDirectSelectiveStreamReader.java b/presto-orc/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/orc/reader/LongDirectSelectiveStreamReader.java
index 43c12912934c..049f55e3c5fe 100644
--- a/presto-orc/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/orc/reader/LongDirectSelectiveStreamReader.java
+++ b/presto-orc/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/orc/reader/LongDirectSelectiveStreamReader.java
@@ -88,6 +88,8 @@ public LongDirectSelectiveStreamReader(
     public int read(int offset, int[] positions, int positionCount)
             throws IOException
     {
+        checkArgument(positionCount > 0, "positionCount must be greater than zero");
+
         if (!rowGroupOpen) {
             openRowGroup();
         }
diff --git a/presto-orc/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/orc/reader/TimestampSelectiveStreamReader.java b/presto-orc/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/orc/reader/TimestampSelectiveStreamReader.java
index f8e22383b39e..57ff310f3836 100644
--- a/presto-orc/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/orc/reader/TimestampSelectiveStreamReader.java
+++ b/presto-orc/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/orc/reader/TimestampSelectiveStreamReader.java
@@ -144,6 +144,7 @@ private void openRowGroup()
     public int read(int offset, int[] positions, int positionCount)
             throws IOException
     {
+        checkArgument(positionCount > 0, "positionCount must be greater than zero");
         checkState(!valuesInUse, "BlockLease hasn't been closed yet");
 
         if (!rowGroupOpen) {