diff --git a/freqtrade/plugins/pairlist/MarketCapPairList.py b/freqtrade/plugins/pairlist/MarketCapPairList.py
index 8bd425c32..3ca31fbf2 100644
--- a/freqtrade/plugins/pairlist/MarketCapPairList.py
+++ b/freqtrade/plugins/pairlist/MarketCapPairList.py
@@ -200,4 +200,5 @@ class MarketCapPairList(IPairList):
             if len(filtered_pairlist) > 0:
                 return filtered_pairlist
 
-        return pairlist
+        # If no pairs are found, return the original pairlist
+        return []