diff --git a/pkg/chartutil/requirements.go b/pkg/chartutil/requirements.go
index 551430404d3..336d0ba6152 100644
--- a/pkg/chartutil/requirements.go
+++ b/pkg/chartutil/requirements.go
@@ -209,7 +209,13 @@ func ProcessRequirementsTags(reqs *Requirements, cvals Values) {
 func ProcessRequirementsEnabled(c *chart.Chart, v *chart.Config) error {
 	reqs, err := LoadRequirements(c)
 	if err != nil {
-		return ErrRequirementsNotFound
+		// if not just missing requirements file, return error
+		if nerr, ok := err.(ErrNoRequirementsFile); !ok {
+			return nerr
+		} else {
+			// no requirements to process
+			return nil
+		}
 	}
 	// set all to true
 	for _, lr := range reqs.Dependencies {
@@ -223,7 +229,7 @@ func ProcessRequirementsEnabled(c *chart.Chart, v *chart.Config) error {
 	ProcessRequirementsTags(reqs, cvals)
 	ProcessRequirementsConditions(reqs, cvals)
 
-	// make a map of charts to keep
+	// make a map of charts to remove
 	rm := map[string]bool{}
 	for _, r := range reqs.Dependencies {
 		if !r.Enabled {
diff --git a/pkg/chartutil/testdata/subpop/noreqs/Chart.yaml b/pkg/chartutil/testdata/subpop/noreqs/Chart.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..77bda03b644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/chartutil/testdata/subpop/noreqs/Chart.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+description: A Helm chart for Kubernetes
+name: parentchart
+version: 0.1.0
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pkg/chartutil/testdata/subpop/noreqs/templates/service.yaml b/pkg/chartutil/testdata/subpop/noreqs/templates/service.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..fdf75aa911a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/chartutil/testdata/subpop/noreqs/templates/service.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Service
+metadata:
+  name: {{ .Chart.Name }}
+  labels:
+    chart: "{{ .Chart.Name }}-{{ .Chart.Version }}"
+spec:
+  type: {{ .Values.service.type }}
+  ports:
+  - port: {{ .Values.service.externalPort }}
+    targetPort: {{ .Values.service.internalPort }}
+    protocol: TCP
+    name: {{ .Values.service.name }}
+  selector:
+    app: {{ .Chart.Name }}
diff --git a/pkg/chartutil/testdata/subpop/noreqs/values.yaml b/pkg/chartutil/testdata/subpop/noreqs/values.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..81c18c6b014
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/chartutil/testdata/subpop/noreqs/values.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+# Default values for subchart.
+# This is a YAML-formatted file.
+# Declare variables to be passed into your templates.
+replicaCount: 1
+image:
+  repository: nginx
+  tag: stable
+  pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
+service:
+  name: nginx
+  type: ClusterIP
+  externalPort: 80
+  internalPort: 80
+resources:
+  limits:
+    cpu: 100m
+    memory: 128Mi
+  requests:
+    cpu: 100m
+    memory: 128Mi
+
+
+# switch-like
+tags:
+  front-end: true
+  back-end: false
+