diff --git a/corpus/sources/estate.py b/corpus/sources/estate.py
index 09da499..09e095b 100644
--- a/corpus/sources/estate.py
+++ b/corpus/sources/estate.py
@@ -271,6 +271,9 @@ def _file_document(result, client, guide, repo, branch, area, updated, created,
         result.add_rejection(exclusions.Rejection(path, "gitea", "binary content", full_name))
         return None
     text = raw.decode("utf-8", "replace")
+    if not text.strip():
+        result.add_rejection(exclusions.Rejection(path, "gitea", "empty file", full_name))
+        return None
     hits = exclusions.scan_text(text)
     if hits:
         kinds = sorted({hit[0] for hit in hits})
@@ -506,6 +509,9 @@ def _harvest_obsidian(result, client, guide, repos, vault_repo, tree, cfg, base_
             result.add_rejection(exclusions.Rejection(path, "obsidian", "binary content"))
             continue
         text = raw.decode("utf-8", "replace")
+        if not text.strip():
+            result.add_rejection(exclusions.Rejection(path, "obsidian", "empty file"))
+            continue
         hits = exclusions.scan_text(text)
         if hits:
             result.add_rejection(
@@ -517,6 +523,9 @@ def _harvest_obsidian(result, client, guide, repos, vault_repo, tree, cfg, base_
             continue
 
         fields, body = _split_note(text, validator)
+        if not body.strip():
+            result.add_rejection(exclusions.Rejection(path, "obsidian", "empty note"))
+            continue
         title = str(fields.get("title") or _heading(body) or os.path.splitext(os.path.basename(path))[0])
         tag_values = fields.get("tags") or []
         if isinstance(tag_values, str):