diff --git a/jupyter_releaser/npm.py b/jupyter_releaser/npm.py
index 2ac7302a..cdf2fb0f 100644
--- a/jupyter_releaser/npm.py
+++ b/jupyter_releaser/npm.py
@@ -47,8 +47,12 @@ def build_dist(package, dist_dir):
             if data.get("private", False):
                 continue
             paths.append(str(osp.abspath(path)).replace(os.sep, "/"))
-
-        util.run(f"npm pack {' '.join(paths)}", cwd=dest, quiet=True)
+        if paths:
+            util.run(f"npm pack {' '.join(paths)}", cwd=dest, quiet=True)
+        else:
+            util.log(
+                "The NPM package defines 'workspaces' that does not contain any public package; this may be a mistake."
+            )
 
 
 def extract_dist(dist_dir, target):