diff --git a/platform/build-scripts/src/org/jetbrains/intellij/build/impl/DistributionJARsBuilder.kt b/platform/build-scripts/src/org/jetbrains/intellij/build/impl/DistributionJARsBuilder.kt
index 89d3821ed43b..94fb76859886 100644
--- a/platform/build-scripts/src/org/jetbrains/intellij/build/impl/DistributionJARsBuilder.kt
+++ b/platform/build-scripts/src/org/jetbrains/intellij/build/impl/DistributionJARsBuilder.kt
@@ -471,8 +471,14 @@ internal suspend fun buildNonBundledPlugins(
 
     if (prepareCustomPluginRepository) {
       val list = pluginSpecs.sortedBy { it.pluginZip }
-      generatePluginRepositoryMetaFile(list, context.nonBundledPlugins, context)
-      generatePluginRepositoryMetaFile(list.filter { it.pluginZip.startsWith(context.nonBundledPluginsToBePublished) }, context.nonBundledPluginsToBePublished, context)
+      if (list.isNotEmpty()) {
+        generatePluginRepositoryMetaFile(list, context.nonBundledPlugins, context)
+      }
+
+      val pluginsToBePublished = list.filter { it.pluginZip.startsWith(context.nonBundledPluginsToBePublished) }
+      if (pluginsToBePublished.isNotEmpty()) {
+        generatePluginRepositoryMetaFile(pluginsToBePublished, context.nonBundledPluginsToBePublished, context)
+      }
     }
 
     validatePlugins(context, pluginSpecs)
diff --git a/platform/build-scripts/src/org/jetbrains/intellij/build/impl/PluginRepositoryXmlGenerator.kt b/platform/build-scripts/src/org/jetbrains/intellij/build/impl/PluginRepositoryXmlGenerator.kt
index 9b7c48d5b9fb..5cf64dcb70a1 100644
--- a/platform/build-scripts/src/org/jetbrains/intellij/build/impl/PluginRepositoryXmlGenerator.kt
+++ b/platform/build-scripts/src/org/jetbrains/intellij/build/impl/PluginRepositoryXmlGenerator.kt
@@ -14,11 +14,13 @@ import java.util.*
 import kotlin.io.path.createDirectories
 
 internal fun generatePluginRepositoryMetaFile(pluginSpecs: List<PluginRepositorySpec>, targetDir: Path, context: BuildContext): Path {
+  require(pluginSpecs.isNotEmpty())
   val categories = TreeMap<String, MutableList<Plugin>>()
   for (spec in pluginSpecs) {
     val p = readPlugin(spec.pluginZip, spec.pluginXml, context.buildNumber, targetDir)
     categories.computeIfAbsent(p.category) { mutableListOf() }.add(p)
   }
+  Files.createDirectories(targetDir)
   val result = targetDir.resolve("plugins.xml")
   writePluginsXml(result, categories)
   return result