diff --git a/R-package/NAMESPACE b/R-package/NAMESPACE
index bbb5ee225..40ede23a5 100644
--- a/R-package/NAMESPACE
+++ b/R-package/NAMESPACE
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ export(setinfo)
 export(slice)
 export(xgb.Booster.complete)
 export(xgb.DMatrix)
+export(xgb.DMatrix.hasinfo)
 export(xgb.DMatrix.save)
 export(xgb.attr)
 export(xgb.attributes)
diff --git a/R-package/R/xgb.DMatrix.R b/R-package/R/xgb.DMatrix.R
index 4b2bb0d2a..11d1105e6 100644
--- a/R-package/R/xgb.DMatrix.R
+++ b/R-package/R/xgb.DMatrix.R
@@ -163,7 +163,10 @@ xgb.DMatrix <- function(
   }
 
   dmat <- handle
-  attributes(dmat) <- list(class = "xgb.DMatrix")
+  attributes(dmat) <- list(
+    class = "xgb.DMatrix",
+    fields = new.env()
+  )
 
   if (!is.null(label)) {
     setinfo(dmat, "label", label)
@@ -199,6 +202,35 @@ xgb.DMatrix <- function(
   return(dmat)
 }
 
+#' @title Check whether DMatrix object has a field
+#' @description Checks whether an xgb.DMatrix object has a given field assigned to
+#' it, such as weights, labels, etc.
+#' @param object The DMatrix object to check for the given \code{info} field.
+#' @param info The field to check for presence or absence in \code{object}.
+#' @seealso \link{xgb.DMatrix}, \link{getinfo.xgb.DMatrix}, \link{setinfo.xgb.DMatrix}
+#' @examples
+#' library(xgboost)
+#' x <- matrix(1:10, nrow = 5)
+#' dm <- xgb.DMatrix(x, nthread = 1)
+#'
+#' # 'dm' so far doesn't have any fields set
+#' xgb.DMatrix.hasinfo(dm, "label")
+#'
+#' # Fields can be added after construction
+#' setinfo(dm, "label", 1:5)
+#' xgb.DMatrix.hasinfo(dm, "label")
+#' @export
+xgb.DMatrix.hasinfo <- function(object, info) {
+  if (!inherits(object, "xgb.DMatrix")) {
+    stop("Object is not an 'xgb.DMatrix'.")
+  }
+  if (.Call(XGCheckNullPtr_R, object)) {
+    warning("xgb.DMatrix object is invalid. Must be constructed again.")
+    return(FALSE)
+  }
+  return(NVL(attr(object, "fields")[[info]], FALSE))
+}
+
 
 # get dmatrix from data, label
 # internal helper method
@@ -389,7 +421,7 @@ getinfo.xgb.DMatrix <- function(object, name, ...) {
 #' @param object Object of class "xgb.DMatrix"
 #' @param name the name of the field to get
 #' @param info the specific field of information to set
-#' @param ... other parameters
+#' @param ... Not used.
 #'
 #' @details
 #' See the documentation for \link{xgb.DMatrix} for possible fields that can be set
@@ -418,6 +450,12 @@ setinfo <- function(object, ...) UseMethod("setinfo")
 #' @rdname setinfo
 #' @export
 setinfo.xgb.DMatrix <- function(object, name, info, ...) {
+  .internal.setinfo.xgb.DMatrix(object, name, info, ...)
+  attr(object, "fields")[[name]] <- TRUE
+  return(TRUE)
+}
+
+.internal.setinfo.xgb.DMatrix <- function(object, name, info, ...) {
   if (name == "label") {
     if (NROW(info) != nrow(object))
       stop("The length of labels must equal to the number of rows in the input data")
@@ -425,19 +463,19 @@ setinfo.xgb.DMatrix <- function(object, name, info, ...) {
     return(TRUE)
   }
   if (name == "label_lower_bound") {
-    if (length(info) != nrow(object))
+    if (NROW(info) != nrow(object))
       stop("The length of lower-bound labels must equal to the number of rows in the input data")
-    .Call(XGDMatrixSetInfo_R, object, name, as.numeric(info))
+    .Call(XGDMatrixSetInfo_R, object, name, info)
     return(TRUE)
   }
   if (name == "label_upper_bound") {
-    if (length(info) != nrow(object))
+    if (NROW(info) != nrow(object))
       stop("The length of upper-bound labels must equal to the number of rows in the input data")
-    .Call(XGDMatrixSetInfo_R, object, name, as.numeric(info))
+    .Call(XGDMatrixSetInfo_R, object, name, info)
     return(TRUE)
   }
   if (name == "weight") {
-    .Call(XGDMatrixSetInfo_R, object, name, as.numeric(info))
+    .Call(XGDMatrixSetInfo_R, object, name, info)
     return(TRUE)
   }
   if (name == "base_margin") {
@@ -447,20 +485,20 @@ setinfo.xgb.DMatrix <- function(object, name, info, ...) {
   if (name == "group") {
     if (sum(info) != nrow(object))
       stop("The sum of groups must equal to the number of rows in the input data")
-    .Call(XGDMatrixSetInfo_R, object, name, as.integer(info))
+    .Call(XGDMatrixSetInfo_R, object, name, info)
     return(TRUE)
   }
   if (name == "qid") {
     if (NROW(info) != nrow(object))
       stop("The length of qid assignments must equal to the number of rows in the input data")
-    .Call(XGDMatrixSetInfo_R, object, name, as.integer(info))
+    .Call(XGDMatrixSetInfo_R, object, name, info)
     return(TRUE)
   }
   if (name == "feature_weights") {
-    if (length(info) != ncol(object)) {
+    if (NROW(info) != ncol(object)) {
       stop("The number of feature weights must equal to the number of columns in the input data")
     }
-    .Call(XGDMatrixSetInfo_R, object, name, as.numeric(info))
+    .Call(XGDMatrixSetInfo_R, object, name, info)
     return(TRUE)
   }
 
@@ -568,11 +606,15 @@ slice.xgb.DMatrix <- function(object, idxset, ...) {
 #' @method print xgb.DMatrix
 #' @export
 print.xgb.DMatrix <- function(x, verbose = FALSE, ...) {
+  if (.Call(XGCheckNullPtr_R, x)) {
+    cat("INVALID xgb.DMatrix object. Must be constructed anew.\n")
+    return(invisible(x))
+  }
   cat('xgb.DMatrix  dim:', nrow(x), 'x', ncol(x), ' info: ')
   infos <- character(0)
-  if (length(getinfo(x, 'label')) > 0) infos <- 'label'
-  if (length(getinfo(x, 'weight')) > 0) infos <- c(infos, 'weight')
-  if (length(getinfo(x, 'base_margin')) > 0) infos <- c(infos, 'base_margin')
+  if (xgb.DMatrix.hasinfo(x, 'label')) infos <- 'label'
+  if (xgb.DMatrix.hasinfo(x, 'weight')) infos <- c(infos, 'weight')
+  if (xgb.DMatrix.hasinfo(x, 'base_margin')) infos <- c(infos, 'base_margin')
   if (length(infos) == 0) infos <- 'NA'
   cat(infos)
   cnames <- colnames(x)
diff --git a/R-package/R/xgb.cv.R b/R-package/R/xgb.cv.R
index 9e1ffeddc..1c17d86f0 100644
--- a/R-package/R/xgb.cv.R
+++ b/R-package/R/xgb.cv.R
@@ -126,6 +126,9 @@ xgb.cv <- function(params = list(), data, nrounds, nfold, label = NULL, missing
                    early_stopping_rounds = NULL, maximize = NULL, callbacks = list(), ...) {
 
   check.deprecation(...)
+  if (inherits(data, "xgb.DMatrix") && .Call(XGCheckNullPtr_R, data)) {
+    stop("'data' is an invalid 'xgb.DMatrix' object. Must be constructed again.")
+  }
 
   params <- check.booster.params(params, ...)
   # TODO: should we deprecate the redundant 'metrics' parameter?
@@ -136,7 +139,7 @@ xgb.cv <- function(params = list(), data, nrounds, nfold, label = NULL, missing
   check.custom.eval()
 
   # Check the labels
-  if ((inherits(data, 'xgb.DMatrix') && is.null(getinfo(data, 'label'))) ||
+  if ((inherits(data, 'xgb.DMatrix') && !xgb.DMatrix.hasinfo(data, 'label')) ||
       (!inherits(data, 'xgb.DMatrix') && is.null(label))) {
     stop("Labels must be provided for CV either through xgb.DMatrix, or through 'label=' when 'data' is matrix")
   } else if (inherits(data, 'xgb.DMatrix')) {
diff --git a/R-package/man/setinfo.Rd b/R-package/man/setinfo.Rd
index a8bc56b02..299e72675 100644
--- a/R-package/man/setinfo.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/setinfo.Rd
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ setinfo(object, ...)
 \arguments{
 \item{object}{Object of class "xgb.DMatrix"}
 
-\item{...}{other parameters}
+\item{...}{Not used.}
 
 \item{name}{the name of the field to get}
 
diff --git a/R-package/man/xgb.DMatrix.hasinfo.Rd b/R-package/man/xgb.DMatrix.hasinfo.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..308d9b42e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R-package/man/xgb.DMatrix.hasinfo.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/xgb.DMatrix.R
+\name{xgb.DMatrix.hasinfo}
+\alias{xgb.DMatrix.hasinfo}
+\title{Check whether DMatrix object has a field}
+\usage{
+xgb.DMatrix.hasinfo(object, info)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{object}{The DMatrix object to check for the given \code{info} field.}
+
+\item{info}{The field to check for presence or absence in \code{object}.}
+}
+\description{
+Checks whether an xgb.DMatrix object has a given field assigned to
+it, such as weights, labels, etc.
+}
+\examples{
+library(xgboost)
+x <- matrix(1:10, nrow = 5)
+dm <- xgb.DMatrix(x, nthread = 1)
+
+# 'dm' so far doesn't have any fields set
+xgb.DMatrix.hasinfo(dm, "label")
+
+# Fields can be added after construction
+setinfo(dm, "label", 1:5)
+xgb.DMatrix.hasinfo(dm, "label")
+}
+\seealso{
+\link{xgb.DMatrix}, \link{getinfo.xgb.DMatrix}, \link{setinfo.xgb.DMatrix}
+}