diff --git a/src/image/MaskedImage.cc b/src/image/MaskedImage.cc
index da2716a5c..d4210a8a3 100644
--- a/src/image/MaskedImage.cc
+++ b/src/image/MaskedImage.cc
@@ -148,7 +148,8 @@ MaskedImage<ImagePixelT, MaskPixelT, VariancePixelT>::MaskedImage(
 template <typename ImagePixelT, typename MaskPixelT, typename VariancePixelT>
 MaskedImage<ImagePixelT, MaskPixelT, VariancePixelT>::MaskedImage(ImagePtr image, MaskPtr mask,
                                                                   VariancePtr variance)
-        : _image(image), _mask(mask), _variance(variance) {
+        : _image(image != nullptr ? image : std::make_shared<Image>()),
+          _mask(mask), _variance(variance) {
     conformSizes();
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/test_maskedImage.py b/tests/test_maskedImage.py
index a4ccd3cb6..7328c6ccc 100644
--- a/tests/test_maskedImage.py
+++ b/tests/test_maskedImage.py
@@ -745,6 +745,12 @@ def testTicket653(self):
         mi = afwImage.MaskedImageF(im)
         afwImage.ExposureF(mi)
 
+    def testTicket41478(self):
+        """Test for DM-41478 fix"""
+        masked_image = afwImage.MaskedImageF(None)
+        image = afwImage.ImageF(None)
+        self.assertEqual(masked_image.getBBox(), image.getBBox())
+
     def testMaskedImageInitialisation(self):
         dims = self.mimage.getDimensions()
         factory = self.mimage.Factory