diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/figure.py b/lib/matplotlib/figure.py
index 2fd9286b75da..129dee3e88b9 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/figure.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/figure.py
@@ -1610,6 +1610,9 @@ def get_tightbbox(self, renderer):
             if ax.get_visible():
                 bb.append(ax.get_tightbbox(renderer))
 
+        if len(bb) == 0:
+            return self.bbox_inches
+
         _bbox = Bbox.union([b for b in bb if b.width != 0 or b.height != 0])
 
         bbox_inches = TransformedBbox(_bbox,