diff --git a/docker/owlbot/java/src/fix-poms.py b/docker/owlbot/java/src/fix-poms.py
index b14877ef9..a7cbe4515 100644
--- a/docker/owlbot/java/src/fix-poms.py
+++ b/docker/owlbot/java/src/fix-poms.py
@@ -467,7 +467,7 @@ def main():
             main_module=main_module,
         )
 
-    if os.path.isfile("pom.xml"):
+    if os.path.isfile("pom.xml") and modules:
         print("updating modules in parent pom.xml")
         update_parent_pom("pom.xml", modules)
     else: