diff --git a/src/coreclr/tools/ILVerification/ILImporter.Verify.cs b/src/coreclr/tools/ILVerification/ILImporter.Verify.cs
index d1b3d10ed5a3fe..c36b1361d8d47d 100644
--- a/src/coreclr/tools/ILVerification/ILImporter.Verify.cs
+++ b/src/coreclr/tools/ILVerification/ILImporter.Verify.cs
@@ -207,6 +207,8 @@ public ILImporter(MethodDesc method, MethodIL methodIL)
 
         public void Verify()
         {
+            FatalCheck(_ilBytes.Length > 0, VerifierError.CodeSizeZero);
+
             _instructionBoundaries = new bool[_ilBytes.Length];
 
             FindBasicBlocks();
@@ -284,8 +286,6 @@ private void FindEnclosingExceptionRegions()
         /// </summary>
         private void InitialPass()
         {
-            FatalCheck(_ilBytes.Length > 0, VerifierError.CodeSizeZero);
-
             _modifiesThisPtr = false;
             _validTargetOffsets = new bool[_ilBytes.Length];