diff --git a/database/database_table.py b/database/database_table.py
index d3c0dce175e39374474f1c78672621e38ba95e73..d67e9442f0f1d19061cb946b06a3eede1fdce427 100644
--- a/database/database_table.py
+++ b/database/database_table.py
@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@ class DatabaseTable(Table):
                     column[0] = column[0].strip()
                     column_dict[column[0]] = [column[1], self._protocol.target_from_dbcolumn(column[0])]
 
-            if not ignore_diff:
+            if not ignore_diff and tdef_columns:
                 for c_name, c_type in tdef_columns.items():
                     if c_name not in column_dict.keys():
                         prompt = input("The column {} is not present on the mapping protocol but is on the table definition,"