diff -u b/entityreference_view_widget.js b/entityreference_view_widget.js
--- b/entityreference_view_widget.js
+++ b/entityreference_view_widget.js
@@ -9,10 +9,6 @@
       var tableRowSelector = 'tr.entityreference-view-widget-table-row';
       $(tableRowSelector).once('processed', function () {
         var $row = $(this);
-        var emptyMessage = '';
-        if (typeof settings.entityreferenceViewWidgetEmptyMessage !== 'undefined') {
-          emptyMessage = settings.entityreferenceViewWidgetEmptyMessage;
-        }
 
         // Prevent item removal when clicking on checkbox labels.
         $('label', $row).click(function (e) {
@@ -26,9 +22,10 @@
             $row.remove();
 
             // If no rows are left, display an empty message.
-            if (!$(tableRowSelector, $table).length) {
+            if (!$(tableRowSelector, $table).length
+                && typeof settings.entityreferenceViewWidgetEmptyMessage !== 'undefined') {
               $('tbody', $table).html('<tr class="odd"><td colspan="3">' +
-                emptyMessage + '</td> </tr>');
+              settings.entityreferenceViewWidgetEmptyMessage + '</td> </tr>');
             }
           }
         });