diff --git a/appview/pages/pages.go b/appview/pages/pages.go
index a29e5c9a..94257162 100644
--- a/appview/pages/pages.go
+++ b/appview/pages/pages.go
@@ -233,6 +233,7 @@ type RepoInfo struct {
 	Roles        RolesInRepo
 	Source       *db.Repo
 	SourceHandle string
+	DisableFork  bool
 }
 
 type RolesInRepo struct {
diff --git a/appview/pages/templates/fragments/repoActions.html b/appview/pages/templates/fragments/repoActions.html
index 0361a778..7a9549a1 100644
--- a/appview/pages/templates/fragments/repoActions.html
+++ b/appview/pages/templates/fragments/repoActions.html
@@ -25,10 +25,17 @@
       </span>
     </div>
   </button>
+  {{ if .DisableFork }}
+  <button class="btn no-underline hover:no-underline flex items-center gap-2 disabled:opacity-50 disabled:cursor-not-allowed" disabled title="Empty repositories cannot be forked">
+      {{ i "git-fork" "w-4 h-4"}}
+      fork
+  </button>
+  {{ else }}
   <a class="btn no-underline hover:no-underline flex items-center gap-2" href="/{{ .FullName }}/fork">
       {{ i "git-fork" "w-4 h-4"}}
       fork
   </a>
+  {{ end }}
 </div>
 {{ end }}
 
diff --git a/appview/state/repo.go b/appview/state/repo.go
index 3f35a62c..116b9993 100644
--- a/appview/state/repo.go
+++ b/appview/state/repo.go
@@ -831,6 +831,33 @@ func (f *FullyResolvedRepo) RepoInfo(s *State, u *auth.User) pages.RepoInfo {
 		knot = "tangled.sh"
 	}
 
+	var disableFork bool
+	us, err := NewUnsignedClient(knot, s.config.Dev)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Printf("failed to create unsigned client for %s: %v", knot, err)
+	} else {
+		resp, err := us.Branches(f.OwnerDid(), f.RepoName)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Printf("failed to get branches for %s/%s: %v", f.OwnerDid(), f.RepoName, err)
+		} else {
+			defer resp.Body.Close()
+			body, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+			if err != nil {
+				log.Printf("error reading branch response body: %v", err)
+			} else {
+				var branchesResp types.RepoBranchesResponse
+				if err := json.Unmarshal(body, &branchesResp); err != nil {
+					log.Printf("error parsing branch response: %v", err)
+				} else {
+					disableFork = false
+				}
+
+				if len(branchesResp.Branches) == 0 {
+					disableFork = true
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
 	repoInfo := pages.RepoInfo{
 		OwnerDid:    f.OwnerDid(),
 		OwnerHandle: f.OwnerHandle(),
@@ -845,6 +872,7 @@ func (f *FullyResolvedRepo) RepoInfo(s *State, u *auth.User) pages.RepoInfo {
 			IssueCount: issueCount,
 			PullCount:  pullCount,
 		},
+		DisableFork: disableFork,
 	}
 
 	if sourceRepo != nil {