diff --git a/Polyhedron/include/CGAL/Polyhedron_3.h b/Polyhedron/include/CGAL/Polyhedron_3.h
index 82342babc89..66e8e9ab4de 100644
--- a/Polyhedron/include/CGAL/Polyhedron_3.h
+++ b/Polyhedron/include/CGAL/Polyhedron_3.h
@@ -785,6 +785,8 @@ public:
 
     bool empty() const { return size_of_halfedges() == 0; }
 
+    bool is_empty() const { return size_of_halfedges() == 0; }
+
     size_type capacity_of_vertices() const {
         // space reserved for vertices.
         return hds_.capacity_of_vertices();