diff --git a/modules/repofiles/content.go b/modules/repofiles/content.go
index 9637658e78b92..d7d43ef9d1661 100644
--- a/modules/repofiles/content.go
+++ b/modules/repofiles/content.go
@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@ func (ct *ContentType) String() string {
 // GetContentsOrList gets the meta data of a file's contents (*ContentsResponse) if treePath not a tree
 // directory, otherwise a listing of file contents ([]*ContentsResponse). Ref can be a branch, commit or tag
 func GetContentsOrList(repo *models.Repository, treePath, ref string) (interface{}, error) {
+	if repo.IsEmpty {
+		return make([]interface{}, 0), nil
+	}
 	if ref == "" {
 		ref = repo.DefaultBranch
 	}
diff --git a/modules/repofiles/content_test.go b/modules/repofiles/content_test.go
index ef6c5eafc22e9..cd98c54ea69f6 100644
--- a/modules/repofiles/content_test.go
+++ b/modules/repofiles/content_test.go
@@ -190,3 +190,19 @@ func TestGetContentsOrListErrors(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.Nil(t, fileContentResponse)
 	})
 }
+
+func TestGetContentsOrListOfEmptyRepos(t *testing.T) {
+	models.PrepareTestEnv(t)
+	ctx := test.MockContext(t, "user2/repo15")
+	ctx.SetParams(":id", "15")
+	test.LoadRepo(t, ctx, 15)
+	test.LoadUser(t, ctx, 2)
+	test.LoadGitRepo(t, ctx)
+	repo := ctx.Repo.Repository
+
+	t.Run("empty repo", func(t *testing.T) {
+		contents, err := GetContentsOrList(repo, "", "")
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
+		assert.Empty(t, contents)
+	})
+}