diff --git a/backends/imgui_impl_sdl2.cpp b/backends/imgui_impl_sdl2.cpp
index 0aaf9830a..a27962a31 100644
--- a/backends/imgui_impl_sdl2.cpp
+++ b/backends/imgui_impl_sdl2.cpp
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 
 // CHANGELOG
 // (minor and older changes stripped away, please see git history for details)
+//  2025-01-20: Made ImGui_ImplSDL2_SetGamepadMode(ImGui_ImplSDL2_GamepadMode_Manual) accept an empty array.
 //  2024-10-24: Emscripten: from SDL 2.30.9, SDL_EVENT_MOUSE_WHEEL event doesn't require dividing by 100.0f.
 //  2024-09-09: use SDL_Vulkan_GetDrawableSize() when available. (#7967, #3190)
 //  2024-08-22: moved some OS/backend related function pointers from ImGuiIO to ImGuiPlatformIO:
@@ -665,7 +666,7 @@ void ImGui_ImplSDL2_SetGamepadMode(ImGui_ImplSDL2_GamepadMode mode, struct _SDL_
     ImGui_ImplSDL2_CloseGamepads();
     if (mode == ImGui_ImplSDL2_GamepadMode_Manual)
     {
-        IM_ASSERT(manual_gamepads_array != nullptr && manual_gamepads_count > 0);
+        IM_ASSERT(manual_gamepads_array != nullptr || manual_gamepads_count <= 0);
         for (int n = 0; n < manual_gamepads_count; n++)
             bd->Gamepads.push_back(manual_gamepads_array[n]);
     }
diff --git a/backends/imgui_impl_sdl3.cpp b/backends/imgui_impl_sdl3.cpp
index eb0eef89f..d5de5443e 100644
--- a/backends/imgui_impl_sdl3.cpp
+++ b/backends/imgui_impl_sdl3.cpp
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 // CHANGELOG
 // (minor and older changes stripped away, please see git history for details)
+//  2025-01-20: Made ImGui_ImplSDL3_SetGamepadMode(ImGui_ImplSDL3_GamepadMode_Manual) accept an empty array.
 //  2024-10-24: Emscripten: SDL_EVENT_MOUSE_WHEEL event doesn't require dividing by 100.0f on Emscripten.
 //  2024-09-03: Update for SDL3 api changes: SDL_GetGamepads() memory ownership revert. (#7918, #7898, #7807)
 //  2024-08-22: moved some OS/backend related function pointers from ImGuiIO to ImGuiPlatformIO:
@@ -635,7 +636,7 @@ void ImGui_ImplSDL3_SetGamepadMode(ImGui_ImplSDL3_GamepadMode mode, SDL_Gamepad*
     ImGui_ImplSDL3_CloseGamepads();
     if (mode == ImGui_ImplSDL3_GamepadMode_Manual)
     {
-        IM_ASSERT(manual_gamepads_array != nullptr && manual_gamepads_count > 0);
+        IM_ASSERT(manual_gamepads_array != nullptr || manual_gamepads_count <= 0);
         for (int n = 0; n < manual_gamepads_count; n++)
             bd->Gamepads.push_back(manual_gamepads_array[n]);
     }
diff --git a/docs/CHANGELOG.txt b/docs/CHANGELOG.txt
index c81fc8df0..17f62c386 100644
--- a/docs/CHANGELOG.txt
+++ b/docs/CHANGELOG.txt
@@ -58,6 +58,10 @@ Other changes:
   provided example, to reduce latency.
 - Examples: Vulkan: better handle VK_SUBOPTIMAL_KHR being returned by
   vkAcquireNextImageKHR() or vkQueuePresentKHR(). (#7825, #7831) [@NostraMagister]
+- Backends: SDL2: removed assert preventing using ImGui_ImplSDL2_SetGamepadMode()
+  with ImGui_ImplSDL2_GamepadMode_Manual and an empty array. (#8329)
+- Backends: SDL3: removed assert preventing using ImGui_ImplSDL3_SetGamepadMode()
+  with ImGui_ImplSDL3_GamepadMode_Manual and an empty array. (#8329)
 - Backends: SDLGPU3: Exposed ImGui_ImplSDLGPU3_CreateDeviceObjects()/_DestroyDeviceObjects().
   Removed return value from ImGui_ImplSDLGPU3_CreateFontsTexture(). (#8163, #7998, #7988)
 - Backends: SDL_Renderer2/3: Use endian-dependent RGBA32 texture format, to match