diff --git a/api/funkwhale_api/music/metadata.py b/api/funkwhale_api/music/metadata.py
index ffce8694379eef711b039e9e77c240e44accaec6..9d19e155771833c5b16abe5275c8785f75b8d754 100644
--- a/api/funkwhale_api/music/metadata.py
+++ b/api/funkwhale_api/music/metadata.py
@@ -357,6 +357,8 @@ class Metadata(Mapping):
         self._file = kind(filething)
         if self._file is None:
             raise ValueError("Cannot parse metadata from {}".format(filething))
+        if len(self._file) == 0:
+            raise ValueError("No tags found in {}".format(filething))
         self.fallback = self.load_fallback(filething, self._file)
         ft = self.get_file_type(self._file)
         try: