diff --git a/tests/unit/test_file.py b/tests/unit/test_file.py
index a6938a9c3..8cb3415d9 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_file.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_file.py
@@ -151,6 +151,9 @@ def test_epoch_tags_single_string(self):
         tags = self.nwbfile.epoch_tags
         self.assertEqual(expected_tags, tags)
 
+    def test_epoch_tags_no_table(self):
+        self.assertEqual(set(), self.nwbfile.epoch_tags)
+
     def test_add_acquisition(self):
         self.nwbfile.add_acquisition(TimeSeries('test_ts', [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
                                                 'grams', timestamps=[0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5]))