diff --git a/Lib/fontTools/subset/__init__.py b/Lib/fontTools/subset/__init__.py
index fadda3436..096f34530 100644
--- a/Lib/fontTools/subset/__init__.py
+++ b/Lib/fontTools/subset/__init__.py
@@ -1321,8 +1321,14 @@ def subset_features(self, feature_indices):
 @_add_method(otTables.FeatureVariations)
 def subset_features(self, feature_indices):
 	self.ensureDecompiled()
-	self.FeaturVariationRecord = [r for r in self.FeatureVariationRecord
-					if r.FeatureTableSubstitution.subset_features(feature_indices)]
+	for r in self.FeatureVariationRecord:
+		r.FeatureTableSubstitution.subset_features(feature_indices)
+	# Prune empty records at the end only
+	# https://github.com/fonttools/fonttools/issues/1881
+	while (self.FeatureVariationRecord and
+		not self.FeatureVariationRecord[-1]
+			.FeatureTableSubstitution.SubstitutionCount):
+		self.FeatureVariationRecord.pop()
 	self.FeatureVariationCount = len(self.FeatureVariationRecord)
 	return bool(self.FeatureVariationCount)