diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/api/common/extHostNotebookEditor.ts b/src/vs/workbench/api/common/extHostNotebookEditor.ts
index 414ff8fea27..67fcc4f17d8 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/api/common/extHostNotebookEditor.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/api/common/extHostNotebookEditor.ts
@@ -65,6 +65,9 @@ class NotebookEditorCellEditBuilder implements vscode.NotebookEditorEdit {
 
 	replaceCells(from: number, to: number, cells: vscode.NotebookCellData[]): void {
 		this._throwIfFinalized();
+		if (from === to && cells.length === 0) {
+			return;
+		}
 		this._collectedEdits.push({
 			editType: CellEditType.Replace,
 			index: from,
diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/api/common/extHostTypes.ts b/src/vs/workbench/api/common/extHostTypes.ts
index dcd13550203..8f4b93a8ac1 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/api/common/extHostTypes.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/api/common/extHostTypes.ts
@@ -637,7 +637,9 @@ export class WorkspaceEdit implements vscode.WorkspaceEdit {
 	}
 
 	replaceNotebookCells(uri: URI, start: number, end: number, cells: vscode.NotebookCellData[], metadata?: vscode.WorkspaceEditEntryMetadata): void {
-		this._edits.push({ _type: FileEditType.Cell, metadata, uri, edit: { editType: CellEditType.Replace, index: start, count: end - start, cells: cells.map(cell => ({ ...cell, outputs: cell.outputs.map(output => addIdToOutput(output)) })) } });
+		if (start !== end || cells.length > 0) {
+			this._edits.push({ _type: FileEditType.Cell, metadata, uri, edit: { editType: CellEditType.Replace, index: start, count: end - start, cells: cells.map(cell => ({ ...cell, outputs: cell.outputs.map(output => addIdToOutput(output)) })) } });
+		}
 	}
 
 	replaceNotebookCellOutput(uri: URI, index: number, outputs: vscode.CellOutput[], metadata?: vscode.WorkspaceEditEntryMetadata): void {