diff --git a/apps/contacts/lib/addressbook.php b/apps/contacts/lib/addressbook.php
index 1953b296616a782df9508cbfc57f818ddf851bfd..974ecb4047d624f841cf70fb6ec01e0cb82607d1 100644
--- a/apps/contacts/lib/addressbook.php
+++ b/apps/contacts/lib/addressbook.php
@@ -219,6 +219,7 @@ class OC_Contacts_Addressbook{
 			OCP\Util::writeLog('contacts','OC_Contacts_Addressbook:active:, exception: '.$e->getMessage(),OCP\Util::DEBUG);
 			OCP\Util::writeLog('contacts','OC_Contacts_Addressbook:active, ids: '.join(',', $active),OCP\Util::DEBUG);
 			OCP\Util::writeLog('contacts','OC_Contacts_Addressbook::active, SQL:'.$prep,OCP\Util::DEBUG);
+			return array();
 		}
 
 		return $addressbooks;