diff --git a/compiler/docgen.nim b/compiler/docgen.nim
index 0fe19c5bc5..1af9c06b8f 100644
--- a/compiler/docgen.nim
+++ b/compiler/docgen.nim
@@ -382,6 +382,7 @@ proc testExample(d: PDoc; ex: PNode) =
   d.examples.add "import r\"" & outp.string & "\"\n"
 
 proc runAllExamples(d: PDoc) =
+  if d.examples.len == 0: return
   let outputDir = d.conf.getNimcacheDir / RelativeDir"runnableExamples"
   let outp = outputDir / RelativeFile(extractFilename(d.filename.changeFileExt"" &
       "_examples.nim"))