diff --git a/docs/changelog/copy-invalid-variant.md b/docs/changelog/copy-invalid-variant.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a72eec879
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/changelog/copy-invalid-variant.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# Fix bug with copying invalid variants
+
+There was a bug where if you attempted to copy a `Variant` that was not
+valid (i.e. did not hold an object); a seg fault could happen. This has
+been changed to set the target variant to also be invalid.
diff --git a/vtkm/exec/internal/testing/UnitTestVariant.cxx b/vtkm/exec/internal/testing/UnitTestVariant.cxx
index 0b97b6ea6..f6e5c9dd4 100644
--- a/vtkm/exec/internal/testing/UnitTestVariant.cxx
+++ b/vtkm/exec/internal/testing/UnitTestVariant.cxx
@@ -431,6 +431,23 @@ void TestCastAndCall()
   VTKM_TEST_ASSERT(test_equal(result, TestValue(26, vtkm::FloatDefault{})));
 }
 
+void TestCopyInvalid()
+{
+  std::cout << "Test copy invalid variant" << std::endl;
+
+  using VariantType = vtkm::exec::internal::Variant<TypePlaceholder<0>, NonTrivial>;
+
+  VariantType source;
+  source.Reset();
+
+  VariantType destination1(source);
+  VTKM_TEST_ASSERT(!destination1.IsValid());
+
+  VariantType destination2(TypePlaceholder<0>{});
+  destination2 = source;
+  VTKM_TEST_ASSERT(!destination2.IsValid());
+}
+
 struct CountConstructDestruct
 {
   vtkm::Id* Count;
@@ -577,6 +594,7 @@ void RunTest()
   TestTriviallyCopyable();
   TestGet();
   TestCastAndCall();
+  TestCopyInvalid();
   TestCopyDestroy();
   TestEmplace();
   TestConstructDestruct();
diff --git a/vtkm/internal/VariantImpl.h b/vtkm/internal/VariantImpl.h
index e3d08eda8..e11926865 100644
--- a/vtkm/internal/VariantImpl.h
+++ b/vtkm/internal/VariantImpl.h
@@ -256,21 +256,31 @@ struct VariantConstructorImpl<vtkm::VTK_M_NAMESPACE::internal::Variant<Ts...>,
   VTK_M_DEVICE VariantConstructorImpl(const VariantConstructorImpl& src) noexcept
     : VariantStorageImpl<Ts...>(vtkm::internal::NullType{})
   {
-    src.CastAndCall(VariantCopyConstructFunctor{}, this->Storage);
+    if (src.IsValid())
+    {
+      src.CastAndCall(VariantCopyConstructFunctor{}, this->Storage);
+    }
     this->Index = src.Index;
   }
 
   VTK_M_DEVICE VariantConstructorImpl& operator=(const VariantConstructorImpl& src) noexcept
   {
-    if (this->GetIndex() == src.GetIndex())
+    if (src.IsValid())
     {
-      src.CastAndCall(detail::VariantCopyFunctor{}, this->Storage);
+      if (this->GetIndex() == src.GetIndex())
+      {
+        src.CastAndCall(detail::VariantCopyFunctor{}, this->Storage);
+      }
+      else
+      {
+        this->Reset();
+        src.CastAndCall(detail::VariantCopyConstructFunctor{}, this->Storage);
+        this->Index = src.Index;
+      }
     }
     else
     {
       this->Reset();
-      src.CastAndCall(detail::VariantCopyConstructFunctor{}, this->Storage);
-      this->Index = src.Index;
     }
     return *this;
   }