diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/closure-info.nix b/pkgs/build-support/closure-info.nix
index f6c31bd786bb..f2aa4964d9a1 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/closure-info.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/closure-info.nix
@@ -21,14 +21,22 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [ coreutils jq ];
 
+  empty = rootPaths == [];
+
   buildCommand =
     ''
       out=''${outputs[out]}
 
       mkdir $out
 
-      jq -r ".closure | map(.narSize) | add" < "$NIX_ATTRS_JSON_FILE" > $out/total-nar-size
-      jq -r '.closure | map([.path, .narHash, .narSize, "", (.references | length)] + .references) | add | map("\(.)\n") | add' < "$NIX_ATTRS_JSON_FILE" | head -n -1 > $out/registration
-      jq -r '.closure[].path' < "$NIX_ATTRS_JSON_FILE" > $out/store-paths
+      if [[ -n "$empty" ]]; then
+        echo 0 > $out/total-nar-size
+        touch $out/registration $out/store-paths
+      else
+        jq -r ".closure | map(.narSize) | add" < "$NIX_ATTRS_JSON_FILE" > $out/total-nar-size
+        jq -r '.closure | map([.path, .narHash, .narSize, "", (.references | length)] + .references) | add | map("\(.)\n") | add' < "$NIX_ATTRS_JSON_FILE" | head -n -1 > $out/registration
+        jq -r '.closure[].path' < "$NIX_ATTRS_JSON_FILE" > $out/store-paths
+      fi
+
     '';
 }