diff --git a/protoc_plugins/gw_gen.py b/protoc_plugins/gw_gen.py
index 77f74fa..5398c32 100755
--- a/protoc_plugins/gw_gen.py
+++ b/protoc_plugins/gw_gen.py
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@
 
 def add_routes(app, grpc_client):
 
+    pass  # so that if no endpoints are defined, Python is still happy
+
     {% for method in methods %}
     {% set method_name = method['service'] + '_' + method['method'] %}
     {% set path = method['path'].replace('{', '<string:').replace('}', '>') %}