diff --git a/server/datastore/mysql/policies.go b/server/datastore/mysql/policies.go
index b2c90b91ba..36670195ca 100644
--- a/server/datastore/mysql/policies.go
+++ b/server/datastore/mysql/policies.go
@@ -748,6 +748,10 @@ func (ds *Datastore) CleanupPolicyMembership(ctx context.Context, now time.Time)
 }
 
 func (ds *Datastore) UpdatePolicyFailureCountsForHosts(ctx context.Context, hosts []*fleet.Host) ([]*fleet.Host, error) {
+	if len(hosts) == 0 {
+		return hosts, nil
+	}
+
 	// Get policy failure counts for each host
 	hostIDs := make([]uint, 0, len(hosts))
 
diff --git a/server/datastore/mysql/policies_test.go b/server/datastore/mysql/policies_test.go
index fc7a6c4510..3a84fe3288 100644
--- a/server/datastore/mysql/policies_test.go
+++ b/server/datastore/mysql/policies_test.go
@@ -2271,4 +2271,9 @@ func testUpdatePolicyFailureCountsForHosts(t *testing.T, ds *Datastore) {
 	// host 3 doesn't have any policy membership
 	assert.Equal(t, 0, hostsUpdated[3].TotalIssuesCount)
 	assert.Equal(t, 0, hostsUpdated[3].FailingPoliciesCount)
+
+	// return empty list if no hosts are passed
+	hostsUpdated, err = ds.UpdatePolicyFailureCountsForHosts(ctx, []*fleet.Host{})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Len(t, hostsUpdated, 0)
 }