diff --git a/internals/overlord/logstate/loki.go b/internals/overlord/logstate/loki.go
index 03a066d8a..b342b2c96 100644
--- a/internals/overlord/logstate/loki.go
+++ b/internals/overlord/logstate/loki.go
@@ -67,6 +67,10 @@ func asLokiEntry(entry servicelog.Entry) lokiEntry {
 }
 
 func (c *lokiClient) Flush(ctx context.Context) error {
+	if c.numEntries() == 0 {
+		return nil // no-op
+	}
+
 	defer func() {
 		for svc := range c.entries {
 			c.entries[svc] = c.entries[svc][:0]