diff --git a/.github/workflows/report.yml b/.github/workflows/report.yml
index eb176da08..b1670ed7c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/report.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/report.yml
@@ -52,6 +52,6 @@ jobs:
           poetry run -- nox -s project:report -- --format markdown >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
           poetry run -- nox -s dependency:licenses >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
           echo -e "\n\n# Coverage\n" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
-          poetry run coverage report -- --format markdown >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+          poetry run -- coverage report --format markdown >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY || true
           poetry run -- tbx lint pretty-print >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
           poetry run -- tbx security pretty-print .security.json >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
diff --git a/doc/changes/unreleased.md b/doc/changes/unreleased.md
index 79e701b84..92059e1e8 100644
--- a/doc/changes/unreleased.md
+++ b/doc/changes/unreleased.md
@@ -1 +1,5 @@
 # Unreleased
+
+## Bugfixes
+
+* #397: Fix handling empty coverage
diff --git a/exasol/toolbox/metrics.py b/exasol/toolbox/metrics.py
index b5f57874e..11872692f 100644
--- a/exasol/toolbox/metrics.py
+++ b/exasol/toolbox/metrics.py
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 import datetime
 import json
 import re
+import subprocess
+import sys
 from collections import defaultdict
 from dataclasses import (
     asdict,
@@ -13,7 +15,6 @@
 from functools import singledispatch
 from inspect import cleandoc
 from pathlib import Path
-from subprocess import run
 from tempfile import TemporaryDirectory
 from typing import (
     Any,
@@ -104,11 +105,23 @@ def total_coverage(file: Union[str, Path]) -> float:
     with TemporaryDirectory() as tmpdir:
         tmp_dir = Path(tmpdir)
         report = tmp_dir / "coverage.json"
-        run(
+        p = subprocess.run(
             ["coverage", "json", f"--data-file={file}", "-o", f"{report}"],
             capture_output=True,
-            check=True,
+            check=False,
+            encoding="utf-8",
         )
+        stdout = p.stdout.strip()
+        if (p.returncode == 1) and (stdout == "No data to report."):
+            print(
+                f"The following command"
+                f" returned non-zero exit status {p.returncode}:\n"
+                f'  {" ".join(p.args)}\n'
+                f"{stdout}\n"
+                "Returning total coverage 100 %.",
+                file=sys.stderr,
+            )
+            return 100.0
         with open(report, encoding="utf-8") as r:
             data = json.load(r)
             total: float = data["totals"]["percent_covered"]
diff --git a/exasol/toolbox/templates/github/workflows/report.yml b/exasol/toolbox/templates/github/workflows/report.yml
index 12b67cc39..b7a513232 100644
--- a/exasol/toolbox/templates/github/workflows/report.yml
+++ b/exasol/toolbox/templates/github/workflows/report.yml
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ jobs:
           # Errors during copying are ignored because they are checked in the next step
           cp .coverage ../ || true
           cp lint-python3.9/.lint.txt ../ || true
-          cp lint-python3.9/.lint.txt ../ || true
+          cp lint-python3.9/.lint.json ../ || true
           cp security-python3.9/.security.json ../ || true
 
       - name: Validate Artifacts
@@ -52,6 +52,6 @@ jobs:
           poetry run -- nox -s project:report -- --format markdown >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
           poetry run -- nox -s dependency:licenses >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
           echo -e "\n\n# Coverage\n" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
-          poetry run coverage report -- --format markdown >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+          poetry run -- coverage report --format markdown >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY || true
           poetry run -- tbx lint pretty-print >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
           poetry run -- tbx security pretty-print .security.json >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
diff --git a/project-template/{{cookiecutter.repo_name}}/.gitignore b/project-template/{{cookiecutter.repo_name}}/.gitignore
index fdfb6de9f..ca472841c 100644
--- a/project-template/{{cookiecutter.repo_name}}/.gitignore
+++ b/project-template/{{cookiecutter.repo_name}}/.gitignore
@@ -142,4 +142,10 @@ doc/api
 itde/
 
 # Emacs
-TAGS
+/TAGS
+
+# PTB
+/.lint.json
+/.lint.txt
+/.security.json
+