diff --git a/workflow/rna-seq.nf b/workflow/rna-seq.nf
index f15deb48d43405b853754d68c25e446f9e315982..9e8f206de7b2c2af78b06f3064ce3eff183797e7 100644
--- a/workflow/rna-seq.nf
+++ b/workflow/rna-seq.nf
@@ -267,6 +267,10 @@ process getData {
     echo -e "LOG: fetched" >> ${repRID}.getData.log
     
     fastqCount=\$(ls *.fastq.gz | wc -l)
+    if [ "\${fastqCount}" == "0" ]
+    then
+      touch dummy.R1.fastq.gz
+    fi
     echo "\${fastqCount}" > fastqCount.csv
     """
 }