diff --git a/src/xml/xml_native_writer.cc b/src/xml/xml_native_writer.cc
index 76917936..24f1a481 100644
--- a/src/xml/xml_native_writer.cc
+++ b/src/xml/xml_native_writer.cc
@@ -1057,6 +1057,13 @@ void mjXWriter::Default(XMLElement* root, mjCDef* def) {
   OneActuator(elem, &def->actuator, par);
   if (!elem->FirstAttribute()) section->DeleteChild(elem);
 
+  // if top-level class has no members or children, delete it and return
+  if (def->parentid<0 && section->NoChildren() && def->childid.empty()) {
+    root->DeleteChild(section);
+    delete par;
+    return;
+  }
+
   // add children recursively
   for (int i=0; i<(int)def->childid.size(); i++) {
     Default(section, model->defaults[def->childid[i]]);
diff --git a/test/xml/xml_native_writer_test.cc b/test/xml/xml_native_writer_test.cc
index 7929c4f5..b125c9b5 100644
--- a/test/xml/xml_native_writer_test.cc
+++ b/test/xml/xml_native_writer_test.cc
@@ -52,6 +52,15 @@ using ::testing::NotNull;
 
 using XMLWriterTest = MujocoTest;
 
+TEST_F(XMLWriterTest, EmptyModel) {
+  static constexpr char xml[] = "<mujoco/>";
+  mjModel* model = LoadModelFromString(xml);
+  ASSERT_THAT(model, NotNull());
+  std::string saved_xml = SaveAndReadXml(model);
+  EXPECT_THAT(saved_xml, Not(HasSubstr("default")));
+  mj_deleteModel(model);
+}
+
 TEST_F(XMLWriterTest, SavesMemory) {
   {
     static constexpr char xml[] = R"(