diff --git a/src/github.com/matrix-org/go-neb/services/rssbot/rssbot.go b/src/github.com/matrix-org/go-neb/services/rssbot/rssbot.go
index 21c9b1d..5ddbe54 100644
--- a/src/github.com/matrix-org/go-neb/services/rssbot/rssbot.go
+++ b/src/github.com/matrix-org/go-neb/services/rssbot/rssbot.go
@@ -241,6 +241,12 @@ func (s *Service) queryFeed(feedURL string) (*gofeed.Feed, []gofeed.Item, error)
 	fp := gofeed.NewParser()
 	fp.Client = cachingClient
 	feed, err := fp.ParseURL(feedURL)
+	// check for no items in addition to any returned errors as it appears some RSS feeds
+	// do not consistently return items.
+	if err == nil && len(feed.Items) == 0 {
+		err = errors.New("feed has 0 items")
+	}
+
 	if err != nil {
 		f := s.Feeds[feedURL]
 		f.IsFailing = true