diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5c888f7..6317dfa 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 * BUGFIX
   * add `role_name` config option to overwrite name of the role
   * fix not aborting overwrite dialog
+  * fix failed loading of empty yaml files
 * FEATURE
   * add basic hugo theme
diff --git a/ansibledoctor/DocumentationParser.py b/ansibledoctor/DocumentationParser.py
index c1f1595..6136c4a 100644
--- a/ansibledoctor/DocumentationParser.py
+++ b/ansibledoctor/DocumentationParser.py
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ class Parser:
             if any(fnmatch.fnmatch(rfile, "*/defaults/*." + ext) for ext in YAML_EXTENSIONS):
                 with open(rfile, "r", encoding="utf8") as yaml_file:
                     try:
-                        data = defaultdict(dict, ruamel.yaml.safe_load(yaml_file))
+                        data = defaultdict(dict, (ruamel.yaml.safe_load(yaml_file) or {}))
                         for key, value in data.items():
                             self._data["var"][key] = {"value": {key: value}}
                     except (ruamel.yaml.composer.ComposerError, ruamel.yaml.scanner.ScannerError) as e: