diff --git a/src/compiler/emitter.ts b/src/compiler/emitter.ts
index 3285599697..724c04b736 100644
--- a/src/compiler/emitter.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/emitter.ts
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ namespace ts {
             }
             if (includeBuildInfo) {
                 const buildInfoPath = getOutputPathForBuildInfo(host.getCompilerOptions(), host.getProjectReferences());
-                return action({ buildInfoPath }, /*sourceFileOrBundle*/ undefined);
+                if (buildInfoPath) return action({ buildInfoPath }, /*sourceFileOrBundle*/ undefined);
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/compiler/tsbuild.ts b/src/compiler/tsbuild.ts
index 09f7c042fc..141008e049 100644
--- a/src/compiler/tsbuild.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/tsbuild.ts
@@ -1487,7 +1487,10 @@ namespace ts {
             for (const inputFile of project.fileNames) {
                 outputs.push(...getOutputFileNames(inputFile, project));
             }
-            if (!ignoreBuildInfo) outputs.push(Debug.assertDefined(getOutputPathForBuildInfo(project.options, project.projectReferences)));
+            if (!ignoreBuildInfo) {
+                const buildInfoPath = getOutputPathForBuildInfo(project.options, project.projectReferences);
+                if (buildInfoPath) outputs.push(buildInfoPath);
+            }
             return outputs;
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/testRunner/unittests/tsbuild/sample.ts b/src/testRunner/unittests/tsbuild/sample.ts
index 9db347745e..51ccd64d30 100644
--- a/src/testRunner/unittests/tsbuild/sample.ts
+++ b/src/testRunner/unittests/tsbuild/sample.ts
@@ -65,6 +65,22 @@ namespace ts {
                     assert(fs.existsSync(output), `Expect file ${output} to exist`);
                 }
             });
+
+            it("builds correctly when project is not composite or doesnt have any references", () => {
+                const fs = projFs.shadow();
+                replaceText(fs, "/src/core/tsconfig.json", `"composite": true,`, "");
+                const host = new fakes.SolutionBuilderHost(fs);
+                const builder = createSolutionBuilder(host, ["/src/core"], { verbose: true });
+                builder.buildAllProjects();
+                host.assertDiagnosticMessages(
+                    getExpectedDiagnosticForProjectsInBuild("src/core/tsconfig.json"),
+                    [Diagnostics.Project_0_is_out_of_date_because_output_file_1_does_not_exist, "src/core/tsconfig.json", "src/core/anotherModule.js"],
+                    [Diagnostics.Building_project_0, "/src/core/tsconfig.json"]
+                );
+                for (const output of ["/src/core/index.js", "/src/core/index.d.ts", "/src/core/index.d.ts.map"]) {
+                    assert(fs.existsSync(output), `Expect file ${output} to exist`);
+                }
+            });
         });
 
         describe("dry builds", () => {