diff --git a/flang/lib/Evaluate/variable.cpp b/flang/lib/Evaluate/variable.cpp
--- a/flang/lib/Evaluate/variable.cpp
+++ b/flang/lib/Evaluate/variable.cpp
@@ -204,9 +204,11 @@
       *ubi = *length;
     }
     if (lbi && literal) {
-      CHECK(*ubi >= *lbi);
       auto newStaticData{StaticDataObject::Create()};
-      auto items{*ubi - *lbi + 1};
+      auto items{0}; // If the lower bound is greater, the length is 0
+      if (*ubi >= *lbi) {
+        items = *ubi - *lbi + 1;
+      }
       auto width{(*literal)->itemBytes()};
       auto bytes{items * width};
       auto startByte{(*lbi - 1) * width};
diff --git a/flang/test/Semantics/resolve49.f90 b/flang/test/Semantics/resolve49.f90
--- a/flang/test/Semantics/resolve49.f90
+++ b/flang/test/Semantics/resolve49.f90
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
   end type
   character :: a(10)
   character :: b(5)
+  character :: c(0)
   integer :: n
   n = 3
   b = a(n:7)
@@ -26,6 +27,7 @@
   a(n+3:) = b
   a(:n+2) = b
   n = iachar(1_'ABCDEFGHIJ'(1:1))
+  c = 'ABCDEFGHIJ'(1:0)
 end
 
 ! Test pointer assignment with bounds