diff --git a/db/view/view_building_task_mutation_builder.hh b/db/view/view_building_task_mutation_builder.hh
index b0d98312cb..80c1c3c970 100644
--- a/db/view/view_building_task_mutation_builder.hh
+++ b/db/view/view_building_task_mutation_builder.hh
@@ -52,6 +52,9 @@ public:
     mutation build() {
         return std::move(_m);
     }
+    bool empty() const {
+        return _m.partition().empty();
+    }
 
 private:
     clustering_key get_ck(utils::UUID id);