--- a/liboctave/dMatrix.cc
+++ b/liboctave/dMatrix.cc
@@ -1527,25 +1527,21 @@
   Matrix retval;
 
   int len = v.length ();
-  int a_len = a.length ();
-
-  if (len != a_len)
-    gripe_nonconformant ("operator *", len, 1, 1, a_len);
-  else
+
+  if (len != 0)
     {
-      if (len != 0)
-	{
-	  retval.resize (len, a_len);
-	  double *c = retval.fortran_vec ();
-
-	  F77_XFCN (dgemm, DGEMM, ("N", "N", len, a_len, 1, 1.0,
-				   v.data (), len, a.data (), 1, 0.0,
-				   c, len, 1L, 1L));
-
-	  if (f77_exception_encountered)
-	    (*current_liboctave_error_handler)
-	      ("unrecoverable error in dgemm");
-	}
+      int a_len = a.length ();
+
+      retval.resize (len, a_len);
+      double *c = retval.fortran_vec ();
+	  
+      F77_XFCN (dgemm, DGEMM, ("N", "N", len, a_len, 1, 1.0,
+			       v.data (), len, a.data (), 1, 0.0,
+			       c, len, 1L, 1L));
+
+      if (f77_exception_encountered)
+	(*current_liboctave_error_handler)
+	  ("unrecoverable error in dgemm");
     }
 
   return retval;