diff --git a/osu.Game.Tests/Editing/LegacyEditorBeatmapPatcherTest.cs b/osu.Game.Tests/Editing/LegacyEditorBeatmapPatcherTest.cs
index afaaafdd26..bb56131b04 100644
--- a/osu.Game.Tests/Editing/LegacyEditorBeatmapPatcherTest.cs
+++ b/osu.Game.Tests/Editing/LegacyEditorBeatmapPatcherTest.cs
@@ -37,6 +37,12 @@ namespace osu.Game.Tests.Editing
             }));
         }
 
+        [Test]
+        public void TestPatchNoObjectChanges()
+        {
+            runTest(new OsuBeatmap());
+        }
+
         [Test]
         public void TestAddHitObject()
         {
diff --git a/osu.Game/Beatmaps/Formats/LegacyBeatmapEncoder.cs b/osu.Game/Beatmaps/Formats/LegacyBeatmapEncoder.cs
index 80fd6c22bb..7ddb0b4caa 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Beatmaps/Formats/LegacyBeatmapEncoder.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Beatmaps/Formats/LegacyBeatmapEncoder.cs
@@ -235,11 +235,11 @@ namespace osu.Game.Beatmaps.Formats
 
         private void handleHitObjects(TextWriter writer)
         {
+            writer.WriteLine("[HitObjects]");
+
             if (beatmap.HitObjects.Count == 0)
                 return;
 
-            writer.WriteLine("[HitObjects]");
-
             foreach (var h in beatmap.HitObjects)
                 handleHitObject(writer, h);
         }
diff --git a/osu.Game/Screens/Edit/LegacyEditorBeatmapPatcher.cs b/osu.Game/Screens/Edit/LegacyEditorBeatmapPatcher.cs
index 72d3421755..f2e0320ce3 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Screens/Edit/LegacyEditorBeatmapPatcher.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Screens/Edit/LegacyEditorBeatmapPatcher.cs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Diagnostics;
 using System.IO;
 using System.Text;
 using DiffPlex;
@@ -35,6 +36,9 @@ namespace osu.Game.Screens.Edit
             int oldHitObjectsIndex = Array.IndexOf(result.PiecesOld, "[HitObjects]");
             int newHitObjectsIndex = Array.IndexOf(result.PiecesNew, "[HitObjects]");
 
+            Debug.Assert(oldHitObjectsIndex >= 0);
+            Debug.Assert(newHitObjectsIndex >= 0);
+
             var toRemove = new List<int>();
             var toAdd = new List<int>();