diff --git a/Framework/Core/src/DeviceSpecHelpers.cxx b/Framework/Core/src/DeviceSpecHelpers.cxx
index f1365407c088a..0cc4ea56c7dea 100644
--- a/Framework/Core/src/DeviceSpecHelpers.cxx
+++ b/Framework/Core/src/DeviceSpecHelpers.cxx
@@ -708,7 +708,6 @@ void DeviceSpecHelpers::dataProcessorSpecs2DeviceSpecs(const WorkflowSpec& workf
   // them before assigning to a device.
   std::vector<OutputSpec> outputs;
 
-  WorkflowHelpers::verifyWorkflow(workflow);
   WorkflowHelpers::constructGraph(workflow, logicalEdges, outputs, availableForwardsInfo);
 
   // We need to instanciate one device per (me, timeIndex) in the
diff --git a/Framework/Core/src/WorkflowHelpers.cxx b/Framework/Core/src/WorkflowHelpers.cxx
index 8e517cd2bccd4..9ace1c786f61f 100644
--- a/Framework/Core/src/WorkflowHelpers.cxx
+++ b/Framework/Core/src/WorkflowHelpers.cxx
@@ -755,10 +755,10 @@ void WorkflowHelpers::sortEdges(std::vector<size_t>& inEdgeIndex,
   std::sort(outEdgeIndex.begin(), outEdgeIndex.end(), outSorter);
 }
 
-void WorkflowHelpers::verifyWorkflow(const o2::framework::WorkflowSpec& workflow)
+WorkflowParsingState WorkflowHelpers::verifyWorkflow(const o2::framework::WorkflowSpec& workflow)
 {
   if (workflow.empty()) {
-    throw std::runtime_error("Empty workflow!");
+    return WorkflowParsingState::Empty;
   }
   std::set<std::string> validNames;
   std::vector<OutputSpec> availableOutputs;
@@ -799,6 +799,7 @@ void WorkflowHelpers::verifyWorkflow(const o2::framework::WorkflowSpec& workflow
       }
     }
   }
+  return WorkflowParsingState::Valid;
 }
 
 using UnifiedDataSpecType = std::variant<InputSpec, OutputSpec>;
diff --git a/Framework/Core/src/WorkflowHelpers.h b/Framework/Core/src/WorkflowHelpers.h
index 9cb5c46829744..c673b1e9940b0 100644
--- a/Framework/Core/src/WorkflowHelpers.h
+++ b/Framework/Core/src/WorkflowHelpers.h
@@ -143,6 +143,11 @@ struct OutputObj {
   bool isdangling;
 };
 
+enum struct WorkflowParsingState : int {
+  Valid,
+  Empty,
+};
+
 /// A set of internal helper classes to manipulate a Workflow
 struct WorkflowHelpers {
   /// Topological sort for a graph of @a nodeCount nodes.
@@ -163,7 +168,7 @@ struct WorkflowHelpers {
 
   // Helper method to verify that a given workflow is actually valid e.g. that
   // it contains no empty labels.
-  static void verifyWorkflow(const WorkflowSpec& workflow);
+  [[nodiscard]] static WorkflowParsingState verifyWorkflow(const WorkflowSpec& workflow);
 
   // Depending on the workflow and the dangling inputs inside it, inject "fake"
   // devices to mark the fact we might need some extra action to make sure
diff --git a/Framework/Core/src/runDataProcessing.cxx b/Framework/Core/src/runDataProcessing.cxx
index 9ad45a114f2b7..bdeed2f1a5e43 100644
--- a/Framework/Core/src/runDataProcessing.cxx
+++ b/Framework/Core/src/runDataProcessing.cxx
@@ -928,6 +928,8 @@ int runStateMachine(DataProcessorSpecs const& workflow,
   std::vector<ServicePreSchedule> preScheduleCallbacks;
   std::vector<ServicePostSchedule> postScheduleCallbacks;
 
+  bool guiDeployedOnce = false;
+
   while (true) {
     // If control forced some transition on us, we push it to the queue.
     if (driverControl.forcedTransitions.empty() == false) {
@@ -1025,6 +1027,10 @@ int runStateMachine(DataProcessorSpecs const& workflow,
         break;
       case DriverState::MATERIALISE_WORKFLOW:
         try {
+          auto workflowState = WorkflowHelpers::verifyWorkflow(workflow);
+          if (driverInfo.batch == true && workflowState == WorkflowParsingState::Empty) {
+            throw runtime_error("Empty workflow provided while running in batch mode.");
+          }
           DeviceSpecHelpers::dataProcessorSpecs2DeviceSpecs(workflow,
                                                             driverInfo.channelPolicies,
                                                             driverInfo.completionPolicies,
@@ -1063,6 +1069,13 @@ int runStateMachine(DataProcessorSpecs const& workflow,
         } catch (std::runtime_error& e) {
           std::cerr << "Invalid workflow: " << e.what() << std::endl;
           return 1;
+        } catch (o2::framework::RuntimeErrorRef ref) {
+          auto& e = o2::framework::error_from_ref(ref);
+#ifdef DPL_ENABLE_BACKTRACE
+          backtrace_symbols_fd(err.backtrace, err.maxBacktrace, STDERR_FILENO);
+#endif
+          std::cerr << "Invalid workflow: " << e.what << std::endl;
+          return 1;
         } catch (...) {
           std::cerr << "Unknown error while materialising workflow";
           return 1;
@@ -1107,6 +1120,7 @@ int runStateMachine(DataProcessorSpecs const& workflow,
           guiContext.window = window;
           gui_timer.data = &guiContext;
           uv_timer_start(&gui_timer, gui_callback, 0, 20);
+          guiDeployedOnce = true;
         }
         break;
       case DriverState::SCHEDULE: {
@@ -1185,10 +1199,14 @@ int runStateMachine(DataProcessorSpecs const& workflow,
           driverInfo.states.push_back(DriverState::RUNNING);
           driverInfo.states.push_back(DriverState::REDEPLOY_GUI);
           driverInfo.states.push_back(DriverState::SCHEDULE);
-        } else if (deviceSpecs.size() == 0) {
+        } else if (deviceSpecs.empty() && driverInfo.batch == true) {
           LOG(INFO) << "No device resulting from the workflow. Quitting.";
           // If there are no deviceSpecs, we exit.
           driverInfo.states.push_back(DriverState::EXIT);
+        } else if (deviceSpecs.empty() && driverInfo.batch == false && !guiDeployedOnce) {
+          // In case of an empty workflow, we need to deploy the GUI at least once.
+          driverInfo.states.push_back(DriverState::RUNNING);
+          driverInfo.states.push_back(DriverState::REDEPLOY_GUI);
         } else {
           driverInfo.states.push_back(DriverState::RUNNING);
         }