diff --git a/platform/util/src/com/intellij/util/xmlb/JDOMXIncluder.java b/platform/util/src/com/intellij/util/xmlb/JDOMXIncluder.java
index d4712435d449..a45c20b6b3d3 100644
--- a/platform/util/src/com/intellij/util/xmlb/JDOMXIncluder.java
+++ b/platform/util/src/com/intellij/util/xmlb/JDOMXIncluder.java
@@ -213,7 +213,9 @@ public class JDOMXIncluder {
 
       final Element fallbackElement = element.getChild("fallback", element.getNamespace());
       List<Object> remoteParsed = parseRemote(bases, remote, fallbackElement);
-      remoteParsed = extractNeededChildren(element, remoteParsed);
+      if (remoteParsed.size() > 0) {
+        remoteParsed = extractNeededChildren(element, remoteParsed);
+      }
 
       for (int i = 0; i < remoteParsed.size(); i++) {
         Object o = remoteParsed.get(i);