diff --git a/subcmds/sync.py b/subcmds/sync.py
index 9ae8a4ce..0e4f34c0 100644
--- a/subcmds/sync.py
+++ b/subcmds/sync.py
@@ -677,9 +677,6 @@ later is required to fix a server side protocol bug.
         cls.ssh_proxy = ssh_proxy
 
     def _GetSyncProgressMessage(self):
-        if len(self._sync_dict) == 0:
-            return None
-
         earliest_time = float("inf")
         earliest_proj = None
         for project, t in self._sync_dict.items():
@@ -687,6 +684,9 @@ later is required to fix a server side protocol bug.
                 earliest_time = t
                 earliest_proj = project
 
+        if not earliest_proj:
+            return None
+
         elapsed = time.time() - earliest_time
         jobs = jobs_str(len(self._sync_dict))
         return f"{jobs} | {elapsed_str(elapsed)} {earliest_proj}"