diff --git a/lib/Service/DomainService.php b/lib/Service/DomainService.php
index ca5f43c8ab4a954187c4517ff706d0f7bfd9b436..eb62841dfe346e78d3dc9514749cf2976bf68136 100644
--- a/lib/Service/DomainService.php
+++ b/lib/Service/DomainService.php
@@ -115,7 +115,9 @@ private function getDomainsFromFile(string $filename, IL10N $l): array {
 		// Attempt to get and read the file
 		$file = $this->getDomainsFile($filename);
 		$content = $file->getContent();
-
+		if (empty($content)) {
+			return [];
+		}
 		// Decode JSON content
 		return json_decode($content, true, 512, JSON_THROW_ON_ERROR) ?? [];
 	} catch (NotFoundException $e) {