diff --git a/xml_tools/handlers/missing_strings.py b/xml_tools/handlers/missing_strings.py
index fc850abf2..eba720515 100644
--- a/xml_tools/handlers/missing_strings.py
+++ b/xml_tools/handlers/missing_strings.py
@@ -21,9 +21,7 @@ def compare_and_update(source_path: Path, dest_path: Path, missing_path: Path) -
         # Parse source and destination files
         _, _, source_strings = XMLProcessor.parse_file(source_path)
         _, _, dest_strings = XMLProcessor.parse_file(dest_path)
-        _, _, missing_path_strings = (
-            XMLProcessor.parse_file(missing_path) if missing_path.exists() else (None, None, {})
-        )
+        _, _, missing_path_strings = XMLProcessor.parse_file(missing_path)
 
         # Find missing strings
         missing_strings = {}
diff --git a/xml_tools/utils/xml.py b/xml_tools/utils/xml.py
index df79d73df..4d473fc8c 100644
--- a/xml_tools/utils/xml.py
+++ b/xml_tools/utils/xml.py
@@ -41,6 +41,9 @@ def parse_file(path: Path) -> Tuple[ET.ElementTree, ET.Element, Dict[str, Dict[s
         Note:
             Only elements with 'name' attributes are included in the returned dictionary.
         """
+        if not path.exists() or path.stat().st_size < 2:
+            return None, None, {}
+
         try:
             tree = ET.parse(path)
             root = tree.getroot()