diff --git a/autoload/youcompleteme.vim b/autoload/youcompleteme.vim
index eb349a0a..c2a8178c 100644
--- a/autoload/youcompleteme.vim
+++ b/autoload/youcompleteme.vim
@@ -581,7 +581,11 @@ command! YcmForceCompileAndDiagnostics call s:ForceCompileAndDiagnostics()
 
 
 function! s:ShowDiagnostics()
-  call s:ForceCompile()
+  let compilation_succeeded = s:ForceCompile()
+  if !compilation_succeeded
+    return
+  endif
+
   let diags = pyeval( 'ycm_state.GetDiagnosticsForCurrentFile()' )
   if !empty( diags )
     call setloclist( 0, diags )