diff --git a/lib/lifecycles/tag.js b/lib/lifecycles/tag.js
index 29b60cf82..44c3bf1a5 100644
--- a/lib/lifecycles/tag.js
+++ b/lib/lifecycles/tag.js
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+const bump = require('../lifecycles/bump')
 const chalk = require('chalk')
 const checkpoint = require('../checkpoint')
 const figures = require('figures')
@@ -28,7 +29,7 @@ function execTag (newVersion, pkgPrivate, args) {
     .then(() => runExec('', 'git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD'))
     .then((currentBranch) => {
       let message = 'git push --follow-tags origin ' + currentBranch.trim()
-      if (pkgPrivate !== true) {
+      if (pkgPrivate !== true && bump.getUpdatedConfigs()['package.json']) {
         message += ' && npm publish'
         if (args.prerelease !== undefined) {
           if (args.prerelease === '') {
diff --git a/test.js b/test.js
index 3c0923284..2aac18a1f 100644
--- a/test.js
+++ b/test.js
@@ -1030,6 +1030,13 @@ describe('standard-version', function () {
           output.stdout.should.include('v5.1.0')
         })
     })
+
+    it('does not display `npm publish` if there is no package.json', function () {
+      shell.rm('package.json')
+      const result = execCli()
+      result.code.should.equal(0)
+      result.stdout.should.not.match(/npm publish/)
+    })
   })
 
   describe('configuration', () => {