diff --git a/dm_control/utils/transformations.py b/dm_control/utils/transformations.py
index 74289c35..b59d193c 100644
--- a/dm_control/utils/transformations.py
+++ b/dm_control/utils/transformations.py
@@ -639,8 +639,10 @@ def axisangle_to_quat(axisangle, tol=0.0):
   """
   axisangle = np.asarray(axisangle)
   angle = np.linalg.norm(axisangle, axis=-1, keepdims=True)
-  axis = np.where(angle <= tol, [1.0, 0.0, 0.0], axisangle / angle)
-  angle = np.where(angle <= tol, [0.0], angle)
+  is_identity = angle <= tol
+  safe_angle = np.where(is_identity, 1.0, angle)
+  axis = np.where(is_identity, [1.0, 0.0, 0.0], axisangle / safe_angle)
+  angle = np.where(is_identity, [0.0], angle)
   sine, cosine = np.sin(angle / 2), np.cos(angle / 2)
   return np.concatenate([cosine, axis * sine], axis=-1)
 
diff --git a/dm_control/utils/transformations_test.py b/dm_control/utils/transformations_test.py
index b11a5694..35969773 100644
--- a/dm_control/utils/transformations_test.py
+++ b/dm_control/utils/transformations_test.py
@@ -268,7 +268,8 @@ def test_axisangle_to_quat(self):
 
   def test_axisangle_to_quat_zero(self):
     axisangle = np.array([0, 0, 0])
-    quat = transformations.axisangle_to_quat(axisangle)
+    with np.errstate(invalid='raise', divide='raise'):
+      quat = transformations.axisangle_to_quat(axisangle)
     np.testing.assert_allclose(quat, [1, 0, 0, 0])
 
   def test_axisangle_to_quat_zero_tol(self):
@@ -277,12 +278,14 @@ def test_axisangle_to_quat_zero_tol(self):
     np.testing.assert_allclose(quat, [1, 0, 0, 0])
 
   def test_axisangle_to_quat_batched(self):
-    axisangle = np.stack([np.array([0.1, 0.2, 0.3]), np.array([0.4, 0.5, 0.6])])
-    quat = transformations.axisangle_to_quat(axisangle)
+    axisangle = np.array([[0.1, 0.2, 0.3], [0, 0, 0], [0.4, 0.5, 0.6]])
+    with np.errstate(invalid='raise', divide='raise'):
+      quat = transformations.axisangle_to_quat(axisangle)
     np.testing.assert_allclose(
         quat,
         [
             [0.982551, 0.0497088, 0.0994177, 0.1491265],
+            [1, 0, 0, 0],
             [0.9052841, 0.1936448, 0.242056, 0.2904672],
         ],
         atol=1e-6,