diff --git a/pkg/cmd/repo_list.go b/pkg/cmd/repo_list.go
index 5b6113a13..4bf2caff0 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/repo_list.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/repo_list.go
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ import (
 	"io"
 
 	"github.com/gosuri/uitable"
-	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 
 	"helm.sh/helm/v4/pkg/cli/output"
@@ -39,10 +38,15 @@ func newRepoListCmd(out io.Writer) *cobra.Command {
 		ValidArgsFunction: noMoreArgsCompFunc,
 		RunE: func(_ *cobra.Command, _ []string) error {
 			f, _ := repo.LoadFile(settings.RepositoryConfig)
-			if len(f.Repositories) == 0 && !(outfmt == output.JSON || outfmt == output.YAML) {
-				return errors.New("no repositories to show")
+			if len(f.Repositories) == 0 {
+				switch outfmt {
+				case output.Table:
+					_, _ = fmt.Fprintln(out, "no repositories to show")
+					return nil
+				case output.JSON, output.YAML:
+					return outfmt.Write(out, &repoListWriter{repos: []*repo.Entry{}})
+				}
 			}
-
 			return outfmt.Write(out, &repoListWriter{f.Repositories})
 		},
 	}