diff --git a/youtube_dl/extractor/crunchyroll.py b/youtube_dl/extractor/crunchyroll.py
index 0bd0eccba..fe1324fe3 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/extractor/crunchyroll.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/extractor/crunchyroll.py
@@ -264,8 +264,6 @@ Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
             if not lang_code:
                 continue
             sub_root = xml.etree.ElementTree.fromstring(subtitle)
-            if not sub_root:
-                subtitles[lang_code] = ''
             if sub_format == 'ass':
                 subtitles[lang_code] = self._convert_subtitles_to_ass(sub_root)
             else: