diff --git a/plugins/gatsby-source-swiftype/gatsby-node.js b/plugins/gatsby-source-swiftype/gatsby-node.js
index 6b312d62c..97ec0b6fa 100644
--- a/plugins/gatsby-source-swiftype/gatsby-node.js
+++ b/plugins/gatsby-source-swiftype/gatsby-node.js
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ exports.onPreBootstrap = ({ reporter }, pluginOptions) => {
 
   if (!fs.existsSync(dataFile)) {
     reporter.info('Creating related-pages.json file');
-    fs.writeFileSync(dataFile, '');
+    fs.writeFileSync(dataFile, '{}');
   }
 };