diff --git a/suricatals/langserver.py b/suricatals/langserver.py
index 32321f4..3379de6 100644
--- a/suricatals/langserver.py
+++ b/suricatals/langserver.py
@@ -351,14 +351,16 @@ def update_workspace_file(self, filepath, read_file=False, allow_empty=False):
             file_obj = self.workspace.get(filepath)
             if read_file:
                 if file_obj is None:
-                    file_obj = SuricataFile(filepath, self.rules_tester)
                     # Create empty file if not yet saved to disk
                     if not os.path.isfile(filepath):
+                        file_obj = SuricataFile(filepath, self.rules_tester, empty=True)
                         if allow_empty:
                             self.workspace[filepath] = file_obj
                             return False, None
                         else:
                             return False, 'File does not exist'  # Error during load
+                    else:
+                        file_obj = SuricataFile(filepath, self.rules_tester)
                 hash_old = file_obj.hash
                 err_string = None
                 if os.path.isfile(filepath):
diff --git a/suricatals/parse_signatures.py b/suricatals/parse_signatures.py
index bccd089..8d35172 100644
--- a/suricatals/parse_signatures.py
+++ b/suricatals/parse_signatures.py
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ class SuricataFile:
     IS_COMMENT = re.compile(r"[ \t]*#")
     GET_MULTILINES = re.compile(r"\\ *$")
 
-    def __init__(self, path, rules_tester):
+    def __init__(self, path, rules_tester, empty=False):
         self.path = path
         self.rules_tester = rules_tester
         self.contents_split = []
@@ -191,7 +191,8 @@ def __init__(self, path, rules_tester):
         self.hash = None
         self.mpm = {}
         self.diagnosis = None
-        self.count_lines()
+        if not empty:
+            self.count_lines()
 
     def count_lines(self):
         with open(self.path, 'r', encoding='utf-8', errors='replace') as fhandle: