diff --git a/cmd/quadlet/main.go b/cmd/quadlet/main.go
index d2be163ff0..35351bbde1 100644
--- a/cmd/quadlet/main.go
+++ b/cmd/quadlet/main.go
@@ -327,8 +327,10 @@ func main() {
 	}
 
 	if len(units) == 0 {
+		// containers/podman/issues/17374: exit cleanly but log that we
+		// had nothing to do
 		Debugf("No files to parse from %s", sourcePaths)
-		os.Exit(1)
+		os.Exit(0)
 	}
 
 	if !dryRun {
diff --git a/test/e2e/quadlet_test.go b/test/e2e/quadlet_test.go
index fd1d621e07..5c323ad543 100644
--- a/test/e2e/quadlet_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/quadlet_test.go
@@ -365,7 +365,7 @@ var _ = Describe("quadlet system generator", func() {
 
 			session := podmanTest.Quadlet([]string{"-dryrun"}, "/something")
 			session.WaitWithDefaultTimeout()
-			Expect(session).Should(Exit(1))
+			Expect(session).Should(Exit(0))
 
 			current := session.ErrorToStringArray()
 			expected := "No files to parse from [/something]"