diff --git a/spacy/tests/regression/test_issue2179.py b/spacy/tests/regression/test_issue2179.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d4f194c0e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spacy/tests/regression/test_issue2179.py
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+'''Test that spurious 'extra_labels' aren't created when initializing NER.'''
+import pytest
+from ... import blank
+
+@pytest.mark.xfail
+def test_issue2179():
+    nlp = blank('it')
+    ner = nlp.create_pipe('ner')
+    ner.add_label('CITIZENSHIP')
+    nlp.add_pipe(ner)
+    nlp.begin_training()
+    nlp2 = blank('it')
+    nlp2.add_pipe(nlp2.create_pipe('ner'))
+    nlp2.from_bytes(nlp.to_bytes())
+    assert 'extra_labels' not in nlp2.get_pipe('ner').cfg
+    assert nlp2.get_pipe('ner').labels == ['CITIZENSHIP']