diff --git a/modules/dnn/src/layers/scale_layer.cpp b/modules/dnn/src/layers/scale_layer.cpp
index bc74e78a56..ee8d6cc379 100644
--- a/modules/dnn/src/layers/scale_layer.cpp
+++ b/modules/dnn/src/layers/scale_layer.cpp
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ public:
         return backendId == DNN_BACKEND_OPENCV ||
                backendId == DNN_BACKEND_CUDA ||
                backendId == DNN_BACKEND_HALIDE ||
-               (backendId == DNN_BACKEND_INFERENCE_ENGINE_NN_BUILDER_2019 && axis == 1) ||
+               (backendId == DNN_BACKEND_INFERENCE_ENGINE_NN_BUILDER_2019 && axis == 1 && !blobs.empty()) ||
                (backendId == DNN_BACKEND_INFERENCE_ENGINE_NGRAPH && axis > 0);
     }