diff --git a/lib/tugboat/middleware/list_droplets.rb b/lib/tugboat/middleware/list_droplets.rb
index 75edced..977d9f9 100644
--- a/lib/tugboat/middleware/list_droplets.rb
+++ b/lib/tugboat/middleware/list_droplets.rb
@@ -5,15 +5,22 @@ class ListDroplets < Base
       def call(env)
         ocean = env["ocean"]
 
-        ocean.droplets.list.droplets.each do |droplet|
+        droplet_list = ocean.droplets.list.droplets
 
-          if droplet.status == "active"
-            status_color = GREEN
-          else
-            status_color = RED
-          end
+        if droplet_list.empty?
+          say "You don't appear to have any droplets.", :red
+          say "Try creating one with #{GREEN}\`tugboat create\`"
+        else
+          droplet_list.each do |droplet|
+
+            if droplet.status == "active"
+              status_color = GREEN
+            else
+              status_color = RED
+            end
 
-          say "#{droplet.name} (ip: #{droplet.ip_address}, status: #{status_color}#{droplet.status}#{CLEAR}, region: #{droplet.region_id}, id: #{droplet.id})"
+            say "#{droplet.name} (ip: #{droplet.ip_address}, status: #{status_color}#{droplet.status}#{CLEAR}, region: #{droplet.region_id}, id: #{droplet.id})"
+          end
         end
 
         @app.call(env)
diff --git a/spec/cli/droplets_cli_spec.rb b/spec/cli/droplets_cli_spec.rb
index e532ba9..1212dcf 100644
--- a/spec/cli/droplets_cli_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/cli/droplets_cli_spec.rb
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
   include_context "spec"
 
   describe "droplets" do
-    it "shows a list" do
+    it "shows a list when droplets exist" do
       stub_request(:get, "https://api.digitalocean.com/droplets?api_key=#{api_key}&client_id=#{client_key}").
            to_return(:status => 200, :body => fixture("show_droplets"))
 
@@ -18,6 +18,20 @@
 
       expect(a_request(:get, "https://api.digitalocean.com/droplets?api_key=#{api_key}&client_id=#{client_key}")).to have_been_made
     end
+
+    it "returns an error when no droplets exist" do
+      stub_request(:get, "https://api.digitalocean.com/droplets?api_key=#{api_key}&client_id=#{client_key}").
+           to_return(:status => 200, :body => fixture("show_droplets_empty"))
+
+      @cli.droplets
+
+      expect($stdout.string).to eq <<-eos
+You don't appear to have any droplets.
+Try creating one with \e[32m`tugboat create`
+      eos
+
+      expect(a_request(:get, "https://api.digitalocean.com/droplets?api_key=#{api_key}&client_id=#{client_key}")).to have_been_made
+    end
   end
 
 end
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/show_droplets_empty.json b/spec/fixtures/show_droplets_empty.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bc2c10a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/show_droplets_empty.json
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+{
+  "status":"OK",
+  "droplets":[]
+}
\ No newline at end of file