diff --git a/src/github.ts b/src/github.ts
index d99e61b16..29f1d52b4 100644
--- a/src/github.ts
+++ b/src/github.ts
@@ -1169,6 +1169,20 @@ export class GitHub {
         draft: !!options?.draft,
         labels: pullRequest.labels,
       });
+      if (prNumber === 0) {
+        this.logger.warn(
+          'no code changes detected, skipping pull request creation'
+        );
+        return {
+          headBranchName: pullRequest.headBranchName,
+          baseBranchName: targetBranch,
+          number: 0,
+          title: pullRequest.title,
+          body: pullRequest.body,
+          labels: pullRequest.labels,
+          files: [],
+        };
+      }
       return await this.getPullRequest(prNumber);
     }
   );
diff --git a/test/github.ts b/test/github.ts
index 5bb64d62d..242bf17b8 100644
--- a/test/github.ts
+++ b/test/github.ts
@@ -1142,6 +1142,33 @@ describe('GitHub', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  describe('createPullRequest', () => {
+    it('should not call getPullRequest when no code changes detected', async () => {
+      const createPullRequestStub = sandbox
+        .stub(codeSuggester, 'createPullRequest')
+        .resolves(0);
+      const getPullRequestStub = sandbox.stub(github, 'getPullRequest');
+
+      // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
+      const pullRequest = await (github as any).createPullRequest(
+        {
+          headBranchName: 'release-please--branches--main',
+          baseBranchName: 'main',
+          title: 'Release v1.0.0',
+          body: 'Release body',
+          labels: ['release-please'],
+        },
+        'main',
+        'commit message',
+        []
+      );
+
+      expect(pullRequest.number).to.eql(0);
+      sinon.assert.calledOnce(createPullRequestStub);
+      sinon.assert.notCalled(getPullRequestStub);
+    });
+  });
+
   describe('buildChangeSet', () => {
     it('should merge updates for the same file', async () => {
       const manifestPath = '.release-please-manifest.json';