diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index e46cfd3..4d37773 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -95,4 +95,7 @@ Thumbs.db
 
 # Ignore built ts files
 __tests__/runner/*
-lib/**/*
\ No newline at end of file
+lib/**/*
+
+# IntelliJ IDE project files
+.idea/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/converters/xlsx.ts b/src/converters/xlsx.ts
index 5484524..b844e78 100644
--- a/src/converters/xlsx.ts
+++ b/src/converters/xlsx.ts
@@ -24,9 +24,12 @@ export class XlsxConverter extends HtmlConverter {
       let mdContent = "";
 
       for (const sheetName of workbook.SheetNames) {
-        mdContent += `## ${sheetName}\n`;
-        let htmlContent = XLSX.utils.sheet_to_html(workbook.Sheets[sheetName]);
-        mdContent += (await this._convert(htmlContent))?.markdown.trim() + "\n\n";
+        const sheet = workbook.Sheets[sheetName];
+        if (sheet["!ref"]) {
+          mdContent += `## ${sheetName}\n`;
+          let htmlContent = XLSX.utils.sheet_to_html(sheet);
+          mdContent += (await this._convert(htmlContent))?.markdown.trim() + "\n\n";
+        }
       }
       return { title: workbook?.Props?.Title || "Untitled", markdown: mdContent, text_content: mdContent };
     } catch (e) {
diff --git a/test/__files/test_empty_sheets.xlsx b/test/__files/test_empty_sheets.xlsx
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..eb456a4
Binary files /dev/null and b/test/__files/test_empty_sheets.xlsx differ
diff --git a/test/index.test.ts b/test/index.test.ts
index ada5df8..92818d4 100644
--- a/test/index.test.ts
+++ b/test/index.test.ts
@@ -183,6 +183,19 @@ describe("MarkItDown Tests", () => {
         expect(textContent).toContain(testString);
       }
     });
+
+    it("should convert .xlsx having empty sheets to markdown", async () => {
+      const markitdown = new MarkItDown();
+      const result = await markitdown.convert(
+        path.join(__dirname, "__files/test_empty_sheets.xlsx")
+      );
+      expect(result).not.toBeNull();
+      expect(result).not.toBeUndefined();
+      const textContent = result?.markdown.replace("\\", "");
+      for (const testString of XLSX_TEST_STRINGS) {
+        expect(textContent).toContain(testString);
+      }
+    });
   });
 
   describe("WAV Converter", () => {