diff --git a/taskcluster/taskgraph/target_tasks.py b/taskcluster/taskgraph/target_tasks.py
index 4c04b9f8ae2d..4540f188b3fc 100644
--- a/taskcluster/taskgraph/target_tasks.py
+++ b/taskcluster/taskgraph/target_tasks.py
@@ -210,10 +210,32 @@ def filter_out_missing_signoffs(task, parameters):
     return True
 
 
+def filter_tests_without_manifests(task, parameters):
+    """Remove test tasks that have an empty 'test_manifests' attribute.
+
+    This situation can arise when the test loader (e.g bugbug) decided there
+    weren't any important manifests to run for the given push. We filter tasks
+    out here rather than in the transforms so that the full task graph is still
+    aware that the task exists (which is needed by the backfill action).
+    """
+    if (
+        task.kind == "test"
+        and "test_manifests" in task.attributes
+        and not task.attributes["test_manifests"]
+    ):
+        return False
+    return True
+
+
 def standard_filter(task, parameters):
     return all(
         filter_func(task, parameters) for filter_func in
-        (filter_out_cron, filter_for_project, filter_for_hg_branch)
+        (
+            filter_out_cron,
+            filter_for_project,
+            filter_for_hg_branch,
+            filter_tests_without_manifests,
+        )
     )
 
 
diff --git a/taskcluster/taskgraph/test/test_target_tasks.py b/taskcluster/taskgraph/test/test_target_tasks.py
index c808a6a8d664..56c13990068a 100644
--- a/taskcluster/taskgraph/test/test_target_tasks.py
+++ b/taskcluster/taskgraph/test/test_target_tasks.py
@@ -7,12 +7,14 @@ from __future__ import absolute_import, print_function, unicode_literals
 import contextlib
 import unittest
 
+import pytest
+from mozunit import main
+
 from taskgraph import target_tasks
 from taskgraph import try_option_syntax
 from taskgraph.graph import Graph
 from taskgraph.taskgraph import TaskGraph
 from taskgraph.task import Task
-from mozunit import main
 
 
 class FakeTryOptionSyntax(object):
@@ -163,5 +165,45 @@ class TestTargetTasks(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(method(tg, params, {}), ['a'])
 
 
+# tests for specific filters
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "name,task,params,expected",
+    (
+        pytest.param(
+            "filter_tests_without_manifests",
+            Task(kind="test", label="a", attributes={}, task={}),
+            None,
+            True,
+            id="filter_tests_without_manifests_not_in_attributes",
+        ),
+        pytest.param(
+            "filter_tests_without_manifests",
+            Task(kind="test", label="a", attributes={'test_manifests': ['foo']}, task={}),
+            None,
+            True,
+            id="filter_tests_without_manifests_has_test_manifests",
+        ),
+        pytest.param(
+            "filter_tests_without_manifests",
+            Task(kind="build", label="a", attributes={'test_manifests': None}, task={}),
+            None,
+            True,
+            id="filter_tests_without_manifests_not_a_test",
+        ),
+        pytest.param(
+            "filter_tests_without_manifests",
+            Task(kind="test", label="a", attributes={'test_manifests': None}, task={}),
+            None,
+            False,
+            id="filter_tests_without_manifests_has_no_test_manifests",
+        ),
+    )
+)
+def test_filters(name, task, params, expected):
+    func = getattr(target_tasks, name)
+    assert func(task, params) is expected
+
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     main()
diff --git a/taskcluster/taskgraph/transforms/tests.py b/taskcluster/taskgraph/transforms/tests.py
index 29687f744f5b..cb7a895328e2 100644
--- a/taskcluster/taskgraph/transforms/tests.py
+++ b/taskcluster/taskgraph/transforms/tests.py
@@ -1531,11 +1531,6 @@ def set_test_manifests(config, tasks):
             frozenset(mozinfo.items()),
         )
 
-        # Skip the task if the loader doesn't return any manifests for the
-        # associated suite.
-        if not task['test-manifests']['active'] and not task['test-manifests']['skipped']:
-            continue
-
         # The default loader loads all manifests. If we use a non-default
         # loader, we'll only run some subset of manifests and the hardcoded
         # chunk numbers will no longer be valid. Dynamic chunking should yield
@@ -1613,9 +1608,12 @@ def split_chunks(config, tasks):
                 manifests['active'],
             )
 
-            # Add all skipped manifests to the first chunk so they still show up in the
-            # logs. They won't impact runtime much.
-            chunked_manifests[0].extend(manifests['skipped'])
+            # Add all skipped manifests to the first chunk of backstop pushes
+            # so they still show up in the logs. They won't impact runtime much
+            # and this way tools like ActiveData are still aware that they
+            # exist.
+            if config.params["backstop"] and manifests["active"]:
+                chunked_manifests[0].extend(manifests['skipped'])
 
         for i in range(task['chunks']):
             this_chunk = i + 1
@@ -1625,12 +1623,7 @@ def split_chunks(config, tasks):
             chunked['this-chunk'] = this_chunk
 
             if chunked_manifests is not None:
-                manifests = sorted(chunked_manifests[i])
-                if not manifests:
-                    raise Exception(
-                        'Chunking algorithm yielded no manifests for chunk {} of {} on {}'.format(
-                            this_chunk, task['test-name'], task['test-platform']))
-                chunked['test-manifests'] = manifests
+                chunked['test-manifests'] = sorted(chunked_manifests[i])
 
             group, symbol = split_symbol(chunked['treeherder-symbol'])
             if task['chunks'] > 1 or not symbol:
@@ -1849,10 +1842,12 @@ def make_job_description(config, tasks):
             'build_type': attr_build_type,
             'test_platform': task['test-platform'],
             'test_chunk': str(task['this-chunk']),
-            'test_manifests': task.get('test-manifests'),
             attr_try_name: try_name,
         })
 
+        if 'test-manifests' in task:
+            attributes['test_manifests'] = task['test-manifests']
+
         jobdesc = {}
         name = '{}-{}'.format(task['test-platform'], task['test-name'])
         jobdesc['name'] = name