diff --git a/cryptobyte/asn1.go b/cryptobyte/asn1.go
index f930f7e..b26376a 100644
--- a/cryptobyte/asn1.go
+++ b/cryptobyte/asn1.go
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@
 			for i := range bytes {
 				bytes[i] ^= 0xff
 			}
-			if bytes[0]&0x80 == 0 {
+			if len(bytes) == 0 || bytes[0]&0x80 == 0 {
 				c.add(0xff)
 			}
 			c.add(bytes...)
diff --git a/cryptobyte/asn1_test.go b/cryptobyte/asn1_test.go
index f6bb96d..74ffc06 100644
--- a/cryptobyte/asn1_test.go
+++ b/cryptobyte/asn1_test.go
@@ -335,3 +335,19 @@
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func TestAddASN1BigInt(t *testing.T) {
+	x := big.NewInt(-1)
+	var b Builder
+	b.AddASN1BigInt(x)
+	got, err := b.Bytes()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error adding -1: %v", err)
+	}
+	s := String(got)
+	var y big.Int
+	ok := s.ReadASN1Integer(&y)
+	if !ok || x.Cmp(&y) != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected bytes %v, want %v", &y, x)
+	}
+}