diff --git a/src/main/java/ctbrec/recorder/LocalRecorder.java b/src/main/java/ctbrec/recorder/LocalRecorder.java
index 6dbe0ad4..543498ae 100644
--- a/src/main/java/ctbrec/recorder/LocalRecorder.java
+++ b/src/main/java/ctbrec/recorder/LocalRecorder.java
@@ -368,8 +368,10 @@ public class LocalRecorder implements Recorder {
         PlaylistGenerator playlistGenerator = new PlaylistGenerator();
         playlistGenerators.put(recDir, playlistGenerator);
         try {
-            playlistGenerator.generate(recDir);
-            playlistGenerator.validate(recDir);
+            File playlist = playlistGenerator.generate(recDir);
+            if(playlist != null) {
+                playlistGenerator.validate(recDir);
+            }
         } catch (IOException | ParseException | PlaylistException e) {
             LOG.error("Couldn't generate playlist file", e);
         } catch (InvalidPlaylistException e) {
@@ -476,11 +478,18 @@ public class LocalRecorder implements Recorder {
         }
 
         for (File subdir : subdirs) {
+            // only consider directories
             if (!subdir.isDirectory()) {
                 continue;
             }
 
+            // ignore empty directories
             File[] recordingsDirs = subdir.listFiles();
+            if(recordingsDirs.length == 0) {
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            // start going over valid directories
             for (File rec : recordingsDirs) {
                 String pattern = "yyyy-MM-dd_HH-mm";
                 SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat(pattern);
diff --git a/src/main/java/ctbrec/recorder/PlaylistGenerator.java b/src/main/java/ctbrec/recorder/PlaylistGenerator.java
index 72469559..df31463b 100644
--- a/src/main/java/ctbrec/recorder/PlaylistGenerator.java
+++ b/src/main/java/ctbrec/recorder/PlaylistGenerator.java
@@ -44,10 +44,15 @@ public class PlaylistGenerator {
     private int lastPercentage;
     private List<ProgressListener> listeners = new ArrayList<>();
 
-    public void generate(File directory) throws IOException, ParseException, PlaylistException {
+    public File generate(File directory) throws IOException, ParseException, PlaylistException {
         LOG.debug("Starting playlist generation for {}", directory);
         // get a list of all ts files and sort them by sequence
         File[] files = directory.listFiles((f) -> f.getName().endsWith(".ts"));
+        if(files.length == 0) {
+            LOG.debug("{} is empty. Not going to generate a playlist", directory);
+            return null;
+        }
+
         Arrays.sort(files, (f1, f2) -> {
             String n1 = f1.getName();
             n1 = n1.substring(0, n1.length()-3);
@@ -107,6 +112,7 @@ public class PlaylistGenerator {
             writer.write(master);
             LOG.debug("Finished playlist generation for {}", directory);
         }
+        return output;
     }
 
     private void updateProgressListeners(double percentage) {