diff --git a/lisp/emacs-lisp/loaddefs-gen.el b/lisp/emacs-lisp/loaddefs-gen.el
index 1007be62dd9..8da0795870c 100644
--- a/lisp/emacs-lisp/loaddefs-gen.el
+++ b/lisp/emacs-lisp/loaddefs-gen.el
@@ -597,15 +597,6 @@ loaddefs-generate
                                 defs))))))
       (progress-reporter-done progress))
 
-    ;; If we have no autoloads data, but we have EXTRA-DATA, then
-    ;; generate the (almost) empty file anyway.
-    (if (and (not defs) extra-data)
-        (with-temp-buffer
-          (insert (loaddefs-generate--rubric output-file nil t))
-          (search-backward "\f")
-          (insert extra-data)
-          (ensure-empty-lines 1)
-          (write-region (point-min) (point-max) output-file nil 'silent))
     ;; We have some data, so generate the loaddef files.  First
     ;; group per output file.
     (dolist (fdefs (seq-group-by (lambda (x) (expand-file-name (car x)))
@@ -663,7 +654,7 @@ loaddefs-generate
             (write-region (point-min) (point-max) loaddefs-file nil 'silent)
             (byte-compile-info
              (file-relative-name loaddefs-file (car (ensure-list dir)))
-               t "GEN"))))))))
+             t "GEN")))))))
 
 (defun loaddefs-generate--print-form (def)
   "Print DEF in a format that makes sense for version control."