diff --git a/Modules/Core/Common/include/itkVector.h b/Modules/Core/Common/include/itkVector.h
index 02fd8fec3284..8a5e1cdf8af8 100644
--- a/Modules/Core/Common/include/itkVector.h
+++ b/Modules/Core/Common/include/itkVector.h
@@ -90,7 +90,8 @@ class ITK_TEMPLATE_EXPORT Vector : public FixedArray<T, VVectorDimension>
     return VVectorDimension;
   }
 
-  /** Set a vnl_vector_ref referencing the same memory block. */
+  /** Copy values from the vnl_vector input to the internal memory block.  The minimum of
+   *  VVectorDimension and vnl_vector::size() elements are copied. */
   void
   SetVnlVector(const vnl_vector<T> &);
 
diff --git a/Modules/Core/Common/include/itkVector.hxx b/Modules/Core/Common/include/itkVector.hxx
index 408a9d8cb4f6..8d2fca35141b 100644
--- a/Modules/Core/Common/include/itkVector.hxx
+++ b/Modules/Core/Common/include/itkVector.hxx
@@ -155,7 +155,8 @@ template <typename T, unsigned int TVectorDimension>
 void
 Vector<T, TVectorDimension>::SetVnlVector(const vnl_vector<T> & v)
 {
-  for (unsigned int i = 0; i < v.size(); ++i)
+  const unsigned int elements_to_copy = std::min<unsigned int>(TVectorDimension, v.size());
+  for (unsigned int i = 0; i < elements_to_copy; ++i)
   {
     (*this)[i] = v(i);
   }