diff --git a/src/traces/surface/defaults.js b/src/traces/surface/defaults.js
index 8c1307f5bf3..8c0d8c6b967 100644
--- a/src/traces/surface/defaults.js
+++ b/src/traces/surface/defaults.js
@@ -23,15 +23,18 @@ module.exports = function supplyDefaults(traceIn, traceOut, defaultColor, layout
         return Lib.coerce(traceIn, traceOut, attributes, attr, dflt);
     }
 
+    var x = coerce('x');
+    var y = coerce('y');
+
     var z = coerce('z');
-    if(!z) {
+    if(!z || !z.length ||
+       (x ? (x.length < 1) : false) ||
+       (y ? (y.length < 1) : false)
+    ) {
         traceOut.visible = false;
         return;
     }
 
-    var x = coerce('x');
-    coerce('y');
-
     traceOut._xlength = (Array.isArray(x) && Lib.isArrayOrTypedArray(x[0])) ? z.length : z[0].length;
     traceOut._ylength = z.length;
 
diff --git a/test/jasmine/tests/gl3d_plot_interact_test.js b/test/jasmine/tests/gl3d_plot_interact_test.js
index 77e713bc719..a44fc0e8eb8 100644
--- a/test/jasmine/tests/gl3d_plot_interact_test.js
+++ b/test/jasmine/tests/gl3d_plot_interact_test.js
@@ -670,13 +670,11 @@ describe('Test gl3d plots', function() {
         .then(done);
     });
 
-
     it('@gl should avoid passing blank texts to webgl', function(done) {
         function assertIsFilled(msg) {
             var fullLayout = gd._fullLayout;
             expect(fullLayout.scene._scene.glplot.objects[0].glyphBuffer.length).not.toBe(0, msg);
         }
-
         Plotly.plot(gd, [{
             type: 'scatter3d',
             mode: 'text',
diff --git a/test/jasmine/tests/surface_test.js b/test/jasmine/tests/surface_test.js
index 00cfe59ff05..d0a02db942d 100644
--- a/test/jasmine/tests/surface_test.js
+++ b/test/jasmine/tests/surface_test.js
@@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
 var Surface = require('@src/traces/surface');
+var Plotly = require('@lib/index');
+var failTest = require('../assets/fail_test');
+var createGraphDiv = require('../assets/create_graph_div');
+var destroyGraphDiv = require('../assets/destroy_graph_div');
 
 var Lib = require('@src/lib');
 
@@ -178,5 +182,118 @@ describe('Test surface', function() {
             expect(traceOut.ycalendar).toBe('ethiopian');
             expect(traceOut.zcalendar).toBe('mayan');
         });
+
+    });
+
+    describe('Test dimension and expected visibility tests', function() {
+        var gd;
+
+        beforeEach(function() {
+            gd = createGraphDiv();
+        });
+
+        afterEach(function() {
+            Plotly.purge(gd);
+            destroyGraphDiv();
+        });
+
+        function assertVisibility(exp, msg) {
+            expect(gd._fullData[0]).not.toBe(undefined, 'no visibility!');
+            expect(gd._fullData[0].visible).toBe(exp, msg);
+        }
+
+        it('@gl surface should be invisible when the z array is empty', function(done) {
+            Plotly.plot(gd, [{
+                'type': 'surface',
+                'z': []
+            }])
+            .then(function() {
+                assertVisibility(false, 'not to be visible');
+            })
+            .catch(failTest)
+            .then(done);
+        });
+
+        it('@gl surface should be invisible when the x array is defined but is empty', function(done) {
+            Plotly.plot(gd, [{
+                'type': 'surface',
+                'x': [],
+                'y': [0, 1],
+                'z': []
+            }])
+            .then(function() {
+                assertVisibility(false, 'not to be visible');
+            })
+            .catch(failTest)
+            .then(done);
+        });
+
+        it('@gl surface should be invisible when the y array is defined but is empty', function(done) {
+            Plotly.plot(gd, [{
+                'type': 'surface',
+                'x': [0, 1],
+                'y': [],
+                'z': []
+            }])
+            .then(function() {
+                assertVisibility(false, 'not to be visible');
+            })
+            .catch(failTest)
+            .then(done);
+        });
+
+        it('@gl surface should be invisible when the x array is defined and has at least one item', function(done) {
+            Plotly.plot(gd, [{
+                'type': 'surface',
+                'x': [0],
+                'y': [0, 1],
+                'z': [[1], [2]]
+            }])
+            .then(function() {
+                assertVisibility(true, 'to be visible');
+            })
+            .catch(failTest)
+            .then(done);
+        });
+
+        it('@gl surface should be invisible when the y array is defined and has at least one item', function(done) {
+            Plotly.plot(gd, [{
+                'type': 'surface',
+                'x': [0, 1],
+                'y': [0],
+                'z': [[1, 2]]
+            }])
+            .then(function() {
+                assertVisibility(true, 'to be visible');
+            })
+            .catch(failTest)
+            .then(done);
+        });
+
+        it('@gl surface should be visible when the x and y are not provided; but z array is provided', function(done) {
+            Plotly.plot(gd, [{
+                'type': 'surface',
+                'z': [[1, 2], [3, 4]]
+            }])
+            .then(function() {
+                assertVisibility(true, 'to be visible');
+            })
+            .catch(failTest)
+            .then(done);
+        });
+
+        it('@gl surface should be invisible when the x and y are provided; but z array is not provided', function(done) {
+            Plotly.plot(gd, [{
+                'type': 'surface',
+                'x': [0, 1],
+                'y': [0, 1]
+            }])
+            .then(function() {
+                assertVisibility(false, 'to be invisible');
+            })
+            .catch(failTest)
+            .then(done);
+        });
+
     });
 });