diff --git a/.github/workflows/lint.yml b/.github/workflows/lint.yml
index 2de9dde99f6..90faedab717 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/lint.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/lint.yml
@@ -65,7 +65,10 @@ jobs:
           head_commit=$(git rev-parse FETCH_HEAD)
           # diff-filter for lower case letter:
           # https://github.com/git/git/commit/7f2ea5f0f2fb056314092cce23202096ca70f076
-          git --no-pager diff --diff-filter=d --name-only $head_commit | grep -e "csrc/.*\.cpp" -e "csrc/.*\.h" | xargs lintrunner --take CLANGTIDY --force-color
+          files=$(git --no-pager diff --diff-filter=d --name-only $head_commit | grep -e "csrc/.*\.cpp" -e "csrc/.*\.h" || true)
+          if [ -n "$files" ]; then
+            echo "$files" | xargs -r lintrunner --take CLANGTIDY --force-color
+          fi
 
   lintrunner:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest