diff --git a/webui/src/web-components/git-data-service.ts b/webui/src/web-components/git-data-service.ts
index b3aec25..6ff89af 100644
--- a/webui/src/web-components/git-data-service.ts
+++ b/webui/src/web-components/git-data-service.ts
@@ -166,6 +166,9 @@
           `Failed to fetch working copy content (${response.status}): ${errorText}`,
         );
       }
+      if (response.status === 204) {
+        return ""; // file doesn't exist
+      }
 
       const data = await response.json();
       return data.output || "";