diff --git a/disbatch/disBatch.py b/disbatch/disBatch.py
index 4dc70e7..9309d43 100644
--- a/disbatch/disBatch.py
+++ b/disbatch/disBatch.py
@@ -1002,112 +1002,154 @@ def poll(self):
         self.taskSource.done()
 
 
-# Given a task source (generating task command lines), parse the lines and
-# produce a TaskInfo generator.
-def taskGenerator(tasks):
-    tsx = 0  # "line number" of current task
-    taskCounter = 0  # next taskId
-    peCounters = {'START': 0, 'STOP': 0}
-    perEngineAllowed = True
-    prefix = suffix = b''
-
-    def peEndListTasks():
-        for when in ['START', 'STOP']:
-            yield TaskInfo(
-                peCounters[when], tsx, -1, b'#ENDLIST', '.per engine %s %d' % (when, peCounters[when]), kind='P'
-            )
+class TaskGenerator:
+    """
+    Given a task source (generating task command lines), parse the lines and
+    yield TaskInfos.
+
+    The generator also knows when it has no more user tasks, as indicated by
+    the `done` property.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, tasks):
+        self._tasks = tasks
+        self._done = False
+        self._generator = self._task_generator()
+
+        # We look ahead by one task because we need to actually
+        # start constructing tasks to know if we are done.
+        self._buffer_next()
+
+    def __iter__(self):
+        return self
+
+    def __next__(self):
+        if self._exception:
+            raise self._exception
+
+        val = self._val
+        self._buffer_next()
+        return val
 
-    OK = True
-    while OK:
-        tsx += 1
+    def _buffer_next(self):
         try:
-            t = next(tasks)
-        except StopIteration:
-            # Signals there will be no more tasks.
-            break
+            self._val = next(self._generator)
+            self._exception = None
+        except StopIteration as e:
+            self._exception = e
+            self._val = None
 
-        # Split on newlines.
-        #
-        # This allows tasks submitted through kvs with or without newlines,
-        # including multiple tasks per item, or from files (always with single
-        # trailing newline).
-        #
-        # Note that multiple lines in the same item get the same streamIndex,
-        # but this shouldn't be a problem.  (Alternatively could increment tsx
-        # inside this loop instead.)
-        for t in t.splitlines():
-            if not t.startswith(b'#DISBATCH') and dbcomment.match(t):
-                # Comment or empty line, ignore
-                continue
+    @property
+    def done(self):
+        return self._done
+
+    def _task_generator(self):
+        tsx = 0  # "line number" of current task
+        taskCounter = 0  # next taskId
+        peCounters = {'START': 0, 'STOP': 0}
+        perEngineAllowed = True
+        prefix = suffix = b''
+
+        def peEndListTasks():
+            for when in ['START', 'STOP']:
+                yield TaskInfo(
+                    peCounters[when], tsx, -1, b'#ENDLIST', '.per engine %s %d' % (when, peCounters[when]), kind='P'
+                )
 
-            m = dbperengine.match(t)
-            if m:
-                if not perEngineAllowed:
-                    # One could imagine doing some sort of per-engine
-                    # reset with each barrier, but that would get
-                    # messy pretty quickly.
-                    logger.error('Per-engine tasks not permitted after normal tasks.')
-                    OK = False
-                    break
-                when, cmd = m.groups()
-                when = when.decode('ascii')
-                cmd = prefix + cmd + suffix
-                yield TaskInfo(peCounters[when], tsx, -1, cmd, '.per engine %s %d' % (when, peCounters[when]), kind='P')
-                peCounters[when] += 1
-                continue
+        OK = True
+        while OK:
+            tsx += 1
+            try:
+                t = next(self._tasks)
+            except StopIteration:
+                # Signals there will be no more tasks.
+                break
 
-            m = dbprefix.match(t)
-            if m:
-                prefix = m.group(1)
-                continue
+            # Split on newlines.
+            #
+            # This allows tasks submitted through kvs with or without newlines,
+            # including multiple tasks per item, or from files (always with single
+            # trailing newline).
+            #
+            # Note that multiple lines in the same item get the same streamIndex,
+            # but this shouldn't be a problem.  (Alternatively could increment tsx
+            # inside this loop instead.)
+            for t in t.splitlines():
+                if not t.startswith(b'#DISBATCH') and dbcomment.match(t):
+                    # Comment or empty line, ignore
+                    continue
 
-            m = dbsuffix.match(t)
-            if m:
-                suffix = m.group(1)
-                continue
+                m = dbperengine.match(t)
+                if m:
+                    if not perEngineAllowed:
+                        # One could imagine doing some sort of per-engine
+                        # reset with each barrier, but that would get
+                        # messy pretty quickly.
+                        logger.error('Per-engine tasks not permitted after normal tasks.')
+                        OK = False
+                        break
+                    when, cmd = m.groups()
+                    when = when.decode('ascii')
+                    cmd = prefix + cmd + suffix
+                    yield TaskInfo(
+                        peCounters[when], tsx, -1, cmd, '.per engine %s %d' % (when, peCounters[when]), kind='P'
+                    )
+                    peCounters[when] += 1
+                    continue
 
-            if perEngineAllowed:
-                # Close out the per-engine task block.
-                perEngineAllowed = False
-                yield from peEndListTasks()
-
-            m = dbrepeat.match(t)
-            if m:
-                repeats, rx, step = int(m.group('repeat')), 0, 1
-                g = m.group('start')
-                if g:
-                    rx = int(g)
-                g = m.group('step')
-                if g:
-                    step = int(g)
-                logger.info('Processing repeat: %d %d %d', repeats, rx, step)
-                cmd = prefix + (m.group('command') or b'') + suffix
-                while repeats > 0:
-                    yield TaskInfo(taskCounter, tsx, rx, cmd, '.task')
-                    taskCounter += 1
-                    rx += step
-                    repeats -= 1
-                continue
+                m = dbprefix.match(t)
+                if m:
+                    prefix = m.group(1)
+                    continue
 
-            m = dbbarrier.match(t)
-            if m:
-                check, bKey = m.groups()
-                kind = 'C' if check else 'B'
-                yield TaskInfo(taskCounter, tsx, -1, t, '.barrier', kind=kind, bKey=bKey)
-                taskCounter += 1
-                continue
+                m = dbsuffix.match(t)
+                if m:
+                    suffix = m.group(1)
+                    continue
 
-            if t.startswith(b'#DISBATCH '):
-                logger.error('Unknown #DISBATCH directive: %s', t)
-            else:
-                yield TaskInfo(taskCounter, tsx, -1, prefix + t + suffix, '.task')
-                taskCounter += 1
+                if perEngineAllowed:
+                    # Close out the per-engine task block.
+                    perEngineAllowed = False
+                    yield from peEndListTasks()
+
+                m = dbrepeat.match(t)
+                if m:
+                    repeats, rx, step = int(m.group('repeat')), 0, 1
+                    g = m.group('start')
+                    if g:
+                        rx = int(g)
+                    g = m.group('step')
+                    if g:
+                        step = int(g)
+                    logger.info('Processing repeat: %d %d %d', repeats, rx, step)
+                    cmd = prefix + (m.group('command') or b'') + suffix
+                    while repeats > 0:
+                        yield TaskInfo(taskCounter, tsx, rx, cmd, '.task')
+                        taskCounter += 1
+                        rx += step
+                        repeats -= 1
+                    continue
 
-    if perEngineAllowed:
-        # Handle edge case of no tasks.
-        yield from peEndListTasks()
+                m = dbbarrier.match(t)
+                if m:
+                    check, bKey = m.groups()
+                    kind = 'C' if check else 'B'
+                    yield TaskInfo(taskCounter, tsx, -1, t, '.barrier', kind=kind, bKey=bKey)
+                    taskCounter += 1
+                    continue
 
-    logger.info('Processed %d tasks.', taskCounter)
+                if t.startswith(b'#DISBATCH '):
+                    logger.error('Unknown #DISBATCH directive: %s', t)
+                else:
+                    yield TaskInfo(taskCounter, tsx, -1, prefix + t + suffix, '.task')
+                    taskCounter += 1
+
+        self._done = True
+        if perEngineAllowed:
+            # Handle edge case of no tasks.
+            yield from peEndListTasks()
+
+        logger.info('Processed %d tasks.', taskCounter)
 
 
 def statusTaskFilter(tasks, status, retry=False, force=False):
@@ -2368,7 +2410,10 @@ def shutdown(s=None, f=None):
                     'Task source name: ' + taskSource.name.decode('utf-8')
                 )  # TODO: Think about the decoding a bit more?
 
-        tasks = taskGenerator(taskSource)
+        tasks = TaskGenerator(taskSource)
+
+        if tasks.done:
+            print('No tasks to run.', file=sys.stderr)
 
         if args.resume_from:
             tasks = statusTaskFilter(tasks, parseStatusFiles(*args.resume_from), args.retry, args.force_resume)
@@ -2394,33 +2439,37 @@ def shutdown(s=None, f=None):
                 )
             )
 
-        if not args.startup_only:
-            # Is there a cleaner way to do this?
-            extraArgs = []
-            argsD = args.__dict__
-            for name in commonContextArgs:
-                v = argsD[name]
-                if v is None:
-                    continue
-                aName = '--' + name.replace('_', '-')
-                if isinstance(v, bool):
-                    if v:
-                        extraArgs.append(aName)
-                elif isinstance(v, list):
-                    for e in v:
-                        extraArgs.extend([aName, str(e)])
-                else:
-                    extraArgs.extend([aName, str(v)])
+        subContext = None
+        if not tasks.done:
+            # Don't start the context if there are no tasks to run,
+            # the kvs is about to shut down so the context won't be able to connect.
+
+            if not args.startup_only:
+                # Is there a cleaner way to do this?
+                extraArgs = []
+                argsD = args.__dict__
+                for name in commonContextArgs:
+                    v = argsD[name]
+                    if v is None:
+                        continue
+                    aName = '--' + name.replace('_', '-')
+                    if isinstance(v, bool):
+                        if v:
+                            extraArgs.append(aName)
+                    elif isinstance(v, list):
+                        for e in v:
+                            extraArgs.extend([aName, str(e)])
+                    else:
+                        extraArgs.extend([aName, str(v)])
 
-            subContext = SUB.Popen(
-                [DbUtilPath] + extraArgs,
-                stdin=open(os.devnull),
-                stdout=open(uniqueId + '_context_wrap.out', 'w'),
-                close_fds=True,
-            )
-        else:
-            print('Run this script to add compute contexts:\n   ' + DbUtilPath)
-            subContext = None
+                subContext = SUB.Popen(
+                    [DbUtilPath] + extraArgs,
+                    stdin=open(os.devnull),
+                    stdout=open(uniqueId + '_context_wrap.out', 'w'),
+                    close_fds=True,
+                )
+            else:
+                print('Run this script to add compute contexts:\n   ' + DbUtilPath)
 
         driver = Driver(kvs, dbInfo, tasks, getattr(taskSource, 'resultkey', resultKey))
         try:
diff --git a/tests/test_slurm/run.sh b/tests/test_slurm/run.sh
index c6a5487..edde8b0 100755
--- a/tests/test_slurm/run.sh
+++ b/tests/test_slurm/run.sh
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@ salloc -n 2 disBatch Tasks
 [[ -f A.txt && -f B.txt && -f C.txt ]]
 success=$?
 
+# Test empty task file
+salloc -n 2 disBatch /dev/null
+success=$((success + $?))
+
 cd - > /dev/null
 
 if [[ $success -eq 0 ]]; then
diff --git a/tests/test_ssh/run.sh b/tests/test_ssh/run.sh
index fab0f48..e767055 100755
--- a/tests/test_ssh/run.sh
+++ b/tests/test_ssh/run.sh
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@ disBatch -s localhost:2 Tasks
 [[ -f A.txt && -f B.txt && -f C.txt ]]
 success=$?
 
+# Test empty task file
+disBatch -s localhost:2 /dev/null
+success=$((success + $?))
+
 cd - > /dev/null
 
 if [[ $success -eq 0 ]]; then