diff --git a/d2compiler/compile_test.go b/d2compiler/compile_test.go
index 78dbd5365..c7c6267da 100644
--- a/d2compiler/compile_test.go
+++ b/d2compiler/compile_test.go
@@ -610,6 +610,11 @@ x: {
 			expErr: `d2/testdata/d2compiler/TestCompile/md_block_string_err.d2:4:19: unexpected text after md block string. See https://d2lang.com/tour/text#advanced-block-strings.
 d2/testdata/d2compiler/TestCompile/md_block_string_err.d2:5:1: block string must be terminated with |`,
 		},
+		{
+			name:   "no_empty_block_strings",
+			text:   `Text: |md |`,
+			expErr: `d2/testdata/d2compiler/TestCompile/no_empty_block_strings.d2:1:1: block string cannot be empty`,
+		},
 		{
 			name: "underscore_edge_existing",
 
diff --git a/testdata/d2compiler/TestCompile/no_empty_block_strings.exp.json b/testdata/d2compiler/TestCompile/no_empty_block_strings.exp.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..be534202f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/d2compiler/TestCompile/no_empty_block_strings.exp.json
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+{
+  "graph": null,
+  "err": {
+    "ioerr": null,
+    "errs": [
+      {
+        "range": "d2/testdata/d2compiler/TestCompile/no_empty_block_strings.d2,0:0:0-0:11:11",
+        "errmsg": "d2/testdata/d2compiler/TestCompile/no_empty_block_strings.d2:1:1: block string cannot be empty"
+      }
+    ]
+  }
+}