diff --git a/changelog.d/19093.misc b/changelog.d/19093.misc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..39ada26b685
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/19093.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Add a shortcut return when there are no events to purge.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/synapse/storage/databases/main/purge_events.py b/synapse/storage/databases/main/purge_events.py
index 10de1b35a6e..d55ea5cf7d4 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/databases/main/purge_events.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/databases/main/purge_events.py
@@ -239,6 +239,16 @@ def _purge_history_txn(
 
         txn.execute("SELECT event_id, should_delete FROM events_to_purge")
         event_rows = txn.fetchall()
+
+        if len(event_rows) == 0:
+            logger.info("[purge] no events found to purge")
+
+            # For the sake of cleanliness: drop the temp table.
+            # This will commit the txn in sqlite, so make sure to keep this actually last.
+            txn.execute("DROP TABLE events_to_purge")
+            # no referenced state groups
+            return set()
+
         logger.info(
             "[purge] found %i events before cutoff, of which %i can be deleted",
             len(event_rows),