diff --git a/src/viser/_gui_api.py b/src/viser/_gui_api.py
index f56e0cd70..cf4891082 100644
--- a/src/viser/_gui_api.py
+++ b/src/viser/_gui_api.py
@@ -560,6 +560,7 @@ def add_gui_plotly(
             self._setup_plotly_js = True
 
         # After plotly.min.js has been sent, we can send the plotly figure.
+        # Empty string for `plotly_json_str` is a signal to the client to render nothing.
         self._get_api()._queue(
             _messages.GuiAddPlotlyMessage(
                 order=handle._order,
diff --git a/src/viser/client/src/components/PlotlyComponent.tsx b/src/viser/client/src/components/PlotlyComponent.tsx
index c3e5990a5..39cec0071 100644
--- a/src/viser/client/src/components/PlotlyComponent.tsx
+++ b/src/viser/client/src/components/PlotlyComponent.tsx
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@ const PlotWithAspect = React.memo(function PlotWithAspect({
   aspectRatio: number;
   staticPlot: boolean;
 }) {
+  // Catch if the jsonStr is empty; if so, render an empty div.
+  if (jsonStr === "") return <div></div>;
+
   // Parse json string, to construct plotly object.
   // Note that only the JSON string is kept as state, not the json object.
   const plotJson = JSON.parse(jsonStr);