diff --git a/include/pybind11/numpy.h b/include/pybind11/numpy.h
index 2ba7bccea..8950cb7cd 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/numpy.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/numpy.h
@@ -228,7 +228,8 @@ public:
 
     explicit dtype(const buffer_info &info) {
         dtype descr(_dtype_from_pep3118()(PYBIND11_STR_TYPE(info.format)));
-        m_ptr = descr.strip_padding().release().ptr();
+        // If info.itemsize == 0, use the value calculated from the format string
+        m_ptr = descr.strip_padding(info.itemsize ? info.itemsize : descr.itemsize()).release().ptr();
     }
 
     explicit dtype(const std::string &format) {
@@ -281,7 +282,7 @@ private:
         return reinterpret_borrow<object>(obj);
     }
 
-    dtype strip_padding() {
+    dtype strip_padding(size_t itemsize) {
         // Recursively strip all void fields with empty names that are generated for
         // padding fields (as of NumPy v1.11).
         if (!has_fields())
@@ -297,7 +298,7 @@ private:
             auto offset = spec[1].cast<tuple>()[1].cast<pybind11::int_>();
             if (!len(name) && format.kind() == 'V')
                 continue;
-            field_descriptors.push_back({(PYBIND11_STR_TYPE) name, format.strip_padding(), offset});
+            field_descriptors.push_back({(PYBIND11_STR_TYPE) name, format.strip_padding(format.itemsize()), offset});
         }
 
         std::sort(field_descriptors.begin(), field_descriptors.end(),
@@ -311,7 +312,7 @@ private:
             formats.append(descr.format);
             offsets.append(descr.offset);
         }
-        return dtype(names, formats, offsets, itemsize());
+        return dtype(names, formats, offsets, itemsize);
     }
 };
 
diff --git a/tests/test_numpy_dtypes.cpp b/tests/test_numpy_dtypes.cpp
index 20cb36269..3894f6a30 100644
--- a/tests/test_numpy_dtypes.cpp
+++ b/tests/test_numpy_dtypes.cpp
@@ -282,11 +282,24 @@ py::list test_dtype_ctors() {
     dict["itemsize"] = py::int_(20);
     list.append(py::dtype::from_args(dict));
     list.append(py::dtype(names, formats, offsets, 20));
-    list.append(py::dtype(py::buffer_info((void *) 0, 1, "I", 1)));
-    list.append(py::dtype(py::buffer_info((void *) 0, 1, "T{i:a:f:b:}", 1)));
+    list.append(py::dtype(py::buffer_info((void *) 0, sizeof(unsigned int), "I", 1)));
+    list.append(py::dtype(py::buffer_info((void *) 0, 0, "T{i:a:f:b:}", 1)));
     return list;
 }
 
+struct TrailingPaddingStruct {
+    int32_t a;
+    char b;
+};
+
+py::dtype trailing_padding_dtype() {
+    return py::dtype::of<TrailingPaddingStruct>();
+}
+
+py::dtype buffer_to_dtype(py::buffer& buf) {
+    return py::dtype(buf.request());
+}
+
 py::list test_dtype_methods() {
     py::list list;
     auto dt1 = py::dtype::of<int32_t>();
@@ -314,6 +327,7 @@ test_initializer numpy_dtypes([](py::module &m) {
     PYBIND11_NUMPY_DTYPE(PartialNestedStruct, a);
     PYBIND11_NUMPY_DTYPE(StringStruct, a, b);
     PYBIND11_NUMPY_DTYPE(EnumStruct, e1, e2);
+    PYBIND11_NUMPY_DTYPE(TrailingPaddingStruct, a, b);
 
     // ... or after
     py::class_<PackedStruct>(m, "PackedStruct");
@@ -338,6 +352,8 @@ test_initializer numpy_dtypes([](py::module &m) {
     m.def("test_array_ctors", &test_array_ctors);
     m.def("test_dtype_ctors", &test_dtype_ctors);
     m.def("test_dtype_methods", &test_dtype_methods);
+    m.def("trailing_padding_dtype", &trailing_padding_dtype);
+    m.def("buffer_to_dtype", &buffer_to_dtype);
     m.def("f_simple", [](SimpleStruct s) { return s.y * 10; });
     m.def("f_packed", [](PackedStruct s) { return s.y * 10; });
     m.def("f_nested", [](NestedStruct s) { return s.a.y * 10; });
diff --git a/tests/test_numpy_dtypes.py b/tests/test_numpy_dtypes.py
index 861a5e656..48b2ff6bc 100644
--- a/tests/test_numpy_dtypes.py
+++ b/tests/test_numpy_dtypes.py
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ def test_format_descriptors():
 
 @pytest.requires_numpy
 def test_dtype(simple_dtype):
-    from pybind11_tests import print_dtypes, test_dtype_ctors, test_dtype_methods
+    from pybind11_tests import print_dtypes, test_dtype_ctors, test_dtype_methods, trailing_padding_dtype, buffer_to_dtype
 
     assert print_dtypes() == [
         "{'names':['x','y','z'], 'formats':['?','<u4','<f4'], 'offsets':[0,4,8], 'itemsize':12}",
@@ -64,6 +64,8 @@ def test_dtype(simple_dtype):
     assert test_dtype_methods() == [np.dtype('int32'), simple_dtype, False, True,
                                     np.dtype('int32').itemsize, simple_dtype.itemsize]
 
+    assert trailing_padding_dtype() == buffer_to_dtype(np.zeros(1, trailing_padding_dtype()))
+
 
 @pytest.requires_numpy
 def test_recarray(simple_dtype, packed_dtype):