diff --git a/src/Datafile.cpp b/src/Datafile.cpp
index cfe79cd9..7d896873 100644
--- a/src/Datafile.cpp
+++ b/src/Datafile.cpp
@@ -148,23 +148,30 @@ void Datafile::commit ()
   if (_dirty)
   {
     AtomicFile file (_file);
-    if (file.open ())
+    if (_lines.size () > 0)
     {
-      // Sort the intervals by ascending start time.
-      std::sort (_lines.begin (), _lines.end ());
-
-      // Write out all the lines.
-      file.truncate ();
-      for (auto& line : _lines)
+      if (file.open ())
       {
-        file.write_raw (line + '\n');
-      }
+        // Sort the intervals by ascending start time.
+        std::sort (_lines.begin (), _lines.end ());
 
-      _dirty = false;
+        // Write out all the lines.
+        file.truncate ();
+        for (auto& line : _lines)
+        {
+          file.write_raw (line + '\n');
+        }
+
+        _dirty = false;
+      }
+      else
+      {
+        throw format ("Could not write to data file {1}", _file._data);
+      }
     }
     else
     {
-      throw format ("Could not write to data file {1}", _file._data);
+      file.remove ();
     }
   }
 }