diff --git a/src/webui/api/torrentscontroller.cpp b/src/webui/api/torrentscontroller.cpp
index 3a681664d..4e98fd9d6 100644
--- a/src/webui/api/torrentscontroller.cpp
+++ b/src/webui/api/torrentscontroller.cpp
@@ -744,6 +744,8 @@ void TorrentsController::filesAction()
     const BitTorrent::Torrent *const torrent = BitTorrent::Session::instance()->getTorrent(id);
     if (!torrent)
         throw APIError(APIErrorType::NotFound);
+    if (!torrent->hasMetadata())
+        return setResult(QJsonArray{});
 
     QList<int> fileIndexes;
     const auto idxIt = params().constFind(u"indexes"_s);
@@ -765,9 +767,6 @@ void TorrentsController::filesAction()
         });
     }
 
-    if (!torrent->hasMetadata())
-        return setResult(QJsonArray {});
-
     QJsonArray fileList = getFiles(torrent, fileIndexes);
     if (!fileList.isEmpty())
     {