diff --git a/packages/core/src/render3/i18n.ts b/packages/core/src/render3/i18n.ts
index a24d51b4c3..ae19790c0b 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/render3/i18n.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/render3/i18n.ts
@@ -471,7 +471,9 @@ function i18nStartFirstPass(
     }
   }
 
-  allocExpando(viewData, i18nVarsCount);
+  if (i18nVarsCount > 0) {
+    allocExpando(viewData, i18nVarsCount);
+  }
 
   ngDevMode &&
       attachI18nOpCodesDebug(
diff --git a/packages/core/src/render3/instructions/shared.ts b/packages/core/src/render3/instructions/shared.ts
index 3d215c4ad2..c25a81cae5 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/render3/instructions/shared.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/render3/instructions/shared.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import {Type} from '../../interface/type';
 import {CUSTOM_ELEMENTS_SCHEMA, NO_ERRORS_SCHEMA, SchemaMetadata} from '../../metadata/schema';
 import {validateAgainstEventAttributes, validateAgainstEventProperties} from '../../sanitization/sanitization';
 import {Sanitizer} from '../../sanitization/security';
-import {assertDataInRange, assertDefined, assertDomNode, assertEqual, assertLessThan, assertNotEqual, assertNotSame} from '../../util/assert';
+import {assertDataInRange, assertDefined, assertDomNode, assertEqual, assertGreaterThan, assertLessThan, assertNotEqual, assertNotSame} from '../../util/assert';
 import {createNamedArrayType} from '../../util/named_array_type';
 import {normalizeDebugBindingName, normalizeDebugBindingValue} from '../../util/ng_reflect';
 import {assertLView, assertPreviousIsParent} from '../assert';
@@ -316,24 +316,31 @@ export function assignTViewNodeToLView(
  * When elements are created dynamically after a view blueprint is created (e.g. through
  * i18nApply() or ComponentFactory.create), we need to adjust the blueprint for future
  * template passes.
+ *
+ * @param view The LView containing the blueprint to adjust
+ * @param numSlotsToAlloc The number of slots to alloc in the LView, should be >0
  */
 export function allocExpando(view: LView, numSlotsToAlloc: number) {
-  const tView = view[TVIEW];
-  if (tView.firstTemplatePass) {
-    for (let i = 0; i < numSlotsToAlloc; i++) {
-      tView.blueprint.push(null);
-      tView.data.push(null);
-      view.push(null);
-    }
+  ngDevMode && assertGreaterThan(
+                   numSlotsToAlloc, 0, 'The number of slots to alloc should be greater than 0');
+  if (numSlotsToAlloc > 0) {
+    const tView = view[TVIEW];
+    if (tView.firstTemplatePass) {
+      for (let i = 0; i < numSlotsToAlloc; i++) {
+        tView.blueprint.push(null);
+        tView.data.push(null);
+        view.push(null);
+      }
 
-    // We should only increment the expando start index if there aren't already directives
-    // and injectors saved in the "expando" section
-    if (!tView.expandoInstructions) {
-      tView.expandoStartIndex += numSlotsToAlloc;
-    } else {
-      // Since we're adding the dynamic nodes into the expando section, we need to let the host
-      // bindings know that they should skip x slots
-      tView.expandoInstructions.push(numSlotsToAlloc);
+      // We should only increment the expando start index if there aren't already directives
+      // and injectors saved in the "expando" section
+      if (!tView.expandoInstructions) {
+        tView.expandoStartIndex += numSlotsToAlloc;
+      } else {
+        // Since we're adding the dynamic nodes into the expando section, we need to let the host
+        // bindings know that they should skip x slots
+        tView.expandoInstructions.push(numSlotsToAlloc);
+      }
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/core/test/acceptance/i18n_spec.ts b/packages/core/test/acceptance/i18n_spec.ts
index 2ba68ebafd..b4677823b4 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/acceptance/i18n_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/core/test/acceptance/i18n_spec.ts
@@ -1463,6 +1463,30 @@ onlyInIvy('Ivy i18n logic').describe('runtime i18n', () => {
           .toEqual(`<div-query>Contenu<!--ng-container--></div-query>`);
     });
   });
+
+  it('should not alloc expando slots when there is no new variable to create', () => {
+    @Component({
+      template: `
+      <div dialog i18n>
+          <div *ngIf="data">
+              Some content
+          </div>
+      </div>
+      <button [close]="true">Button label</button>
+  `
+    })
+    class ContentElementDialog {
+      data = false;
+    }
+
+    TestBed.configureTestingModule({declarations: [DialogDir, CloseBtn, ContentElementDialog]});
+
+    const fixture = TestBed.createComponent(ContentElementDialog);
+    fixture.detectChanges();
+    expect(fixture.nativeElement.innerHTML).toEqual(`<div dialog=""><!--bindings={
+  "ng-reflect-ng-if": "false"
+}--></div><button ng-reflect-dialog-result="true" title="Close dialog">Button label</button>`);
+  });
 });
 
 function initWithTemplate(compType: Type<any>, template: string) {
@@ -1491,3 +1515,13 @@ class DirectiveWithTplRef {
 class UppercasePipe implements PipeTransform {
   transform(value: string) { return value.toUpperCase(); }
 }
+
+@Directive({selector: `[dialog]`})
+export class DialogDir {
+}
+
+@Directive({selector: `button[close]`, host: {'[title]': 'name'}})
+export class CloseBtn {
+  @Input('close') dialogResult: any;
+  name: string = 'Close dialog';
+}