diff --git a/src/mono/mono/component/hot_reload.c b/src/mono/mono/component/hot_reload.c
index 5ce5950556581c..e5614bb0788aec 100644
--- a/src/mono/mono/component/hot_reload.c
+++ b/src/mono/mono/component/hot_reload.c
@@ -2381,9 +2381,11 @@ hot_reload_apply_changes (int origin, MonoImage *image_base, gconstpointer dmeta
 	if (!assembly_update_supported (image_base, error)) {
 		return;
 	}
-
+	if (dmeta_bytes == 0 && dil_bytes_orig == 0) // we may receive empty updates
+	{
+		return;
+	}
         static int first_origin = -1;
-
         if (first_origin < 0) {
                 first_origin = origin;
         }