diff --git a/.github/workflows/empty-diff.yml b/.github/workflows/empty-diff.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9fdef63
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/empty-diff.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+name: empty-diff (reusable)
+
+# Fail a pull request when its diff against the base branch is empty.
+# Eight no-op PRs landed on Glyndor/homebrew-tap and Glyndor/scoop-bucket
+# before this gate existed: the work was already in main via squash-merge,
+# the branch was recreated as `-v2`, and the second merge landed as a commit
+# with zero files changed. CI is happy with that — a commit with no diff is
+# valid git and a green GitHub Actions run, and only `git show --stat` flags
+# it.
+#
+# Add this as an advisory caller in every repository that opens PRs against
+# `main`, then promote it to a required status check once the emitted check
+# name has stayed stable across a few weeks of green. Promoting it before
+# the name has settled is how a phantom required check is created (see the
+# `dco` and `line-limit` reusable docs for the by-name matching detail).
+
+on:
+  workflow_call:
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
+concurrency:
+  group: empty-diff-${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
+  cancel-in-progress: true
+
+jobs:
+  empty-diff:
+    name: empty diff
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7.0.1
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+          persist-credentials: false
+
+      - name: Fail when the pull request changes nothing
+        env:
+          BASE: ${{ github.event.pull_request.base.ref }}
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          if [ -z "${BASE:-}" ]; then
+            echo "::error::could not determine the pull request base ref — this reusable must be called from a pull_request-triggered workflow"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          if git diff --quiet "origin/${BASE}...HEAD"; then
+            echo "::error::this pull request has an empty diff against ${BASE}"
+            exit 1
+          fi
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docs/reusables/README.md b/docs/reusables/README.md
index 703b483..9c5a009 100644
--- a/docs/reusables/README.md
+++ b/docs/reusables/README.md
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ which blocks every pull request until someone works out why.
 |---|---|---|---|
 | [`bun-ci`](bun-ci.md) | 1 | 0 | 3 |
 | [`dco`](dco.md) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
+| [`empty-diff`](empty-diff.md) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
 | [`go-audit`](go-audit.md) | 2 | 0 | 4 |
 | [`go-ci`](go-ci.md) | 1 | 0 | 3 |
 | [`go-fuzz`](go-fuzz.md) | 1 | 0 | 3 |
diff --git a/docs/reusables/empty-diff.md b/docs/reusables/empty-diff.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..09d2539
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/reusables/empty-diff.md
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+# empty-diff
+
+Fail a pull request when its diff against the base branch is empty. Eight no-op PRs landed on Glyndor/homebrew-tap and Glyndor/scoop-bucket before this gate existed: the work was already in main via squash-merge, the branch was recreated as `-v2`, and the second merge landed as a commit with zero files changed. CI is happy with that — a commit with no diff is valid git and a green GitHub Actions run, and only `git show --stat` flags it. Add this as an advisory caller in every repository that opens PRs against `main`, then promote it to a required status check once the emitted check name has stayed stable across a few weeks of green. Promoting it before the name has settled is how a phantom required check is created (see the `dco` and `line-limit` reusable docs for the by-name matching detail).
+
+## Calling it
+
+```yaml
+# .github/workflows/ci.yml in the consuming repository
+jobs:
+  example:
+    uses: Glyndor/.github/.github/workflows/empty-diff.yml@<sha> # vX.Y.Z
+```
+
+Pin to a release commit SHA with the version in a comment. Never track a
+branch: the SHA pin is what stops a change here reaching a repository
+before that repository's own CI has passed on it.
+
+## Status checks it emits
+
+The name a consumer sees is `<caller job id> / <job name>`, where `example` is
+the caller's job id from the snippet above — a repository that names its job
+`rust` sees `rust / …` instead. **These are the strings a ruleset matches**, and
+a required check whose name nothing emits blocks every pull request.
+
+| Check | Emitted when |
+|---|---|
+| `example / empty diff` | always |
+
+## Inputs
+
+None.
+
+---
+
+Generated from `.github/workflows/empty-diff.yml` by `scripts/render-reusable-docs.py`.
+Edit the workflow, not this page.