diff --git a/src/browser/base/zen-components/ZenViewSplitter.mjs b/src/browser/base/zen-components/ZenViewSplitter.mjs
index 5d3ff355b..b5d9f8ff8 100644
--- a/src/browser/base/zen-components/ZenViewSplitter.mjs
+++ b/src/browser/base/zen-components/ZenViewSplitter.mjs
@@ -884,7 +884,7 @@ class ZenViewSplitter extends ZenDOMOperatedFeature {
       return false;
     }
     for (const tab of window.gBrowser.selectedTabs) {
-      if (tab.splitView) {
+      if (tab.splitView || tab.hasAttribute('zen-empty-tab') || tab.hasAttribute('zen-essential')) {
         return false;
       }
     }