diff --git a/samples/snippets/subscriber.py b/samples/snippets/subscriber.py
index dad841600..7bc124ca8 100644
--- a/samples/snippets/subscriber.py
+++ b/samples/snippets/subscriber.py
@@ -605,6 +605,9 @@ def synchronous_pull(project_id: str, subscription_id: str) -> None:
             retry=retry.Retry(deadline=300),
         )
 
+        if len(response.received_messages) == 0:
+            return
+
         ack_ids = []
         for received_message in response.received_messages:
             print(f"Received: {received_message.message.data}.")
@@ -651,6 +654,9 @@ def synchronous_pull_with_lease_management(
         retry=retry.Retry(deadline=300),
     )
 
+    if len(response.received_messages) == 0:
+        return
+
     # Start a process for each message based on its size modulo 10.
     for message in response.received_messages:
         process = multiprocessing.Process(