diff --git a/tests/unit/test_streaming.py b/tests/unit/test_streaming.py
index 96f39dd..1b6b8ed 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_streaming.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_streaming.py
@@ -290,6 +290,63 @@ async def capturing_sleep(interval: float) -> None:
 
         assert recorded_intervals[0] == 5.0
 
+    async def test_stream_alerts_empty_monitors_yields_nothing(
+        self, async_client: AsyncHyperpingClient
+    ) -> None:
+        """Empty monitors list on first poll yields nothing."""
+        with (
+            patch.object(async_client, "_request", new=AsyncMock(return_value=[])),
+            patch("asyncio.sleep", new=AsyncMock(side_effect=asyncio.CancelledError)),
+        ):
+            results = await _drain(
+                async_client.stream_alerts(poll_interval=0.0), until_cancelled=True
+            )
+
+        assert results == []
+
+    async def test_stream_alerts_empty_monitors_sleep_still_called(
+        self, async_client: AsyncHyperpingClient
+    ) -> None:
+        """asyncio.sleep is still called when the monitors list is empty."""
+        recorded_intervals: list[float] = []
+
+        async def capturing_sleep(interval: float) -> None:
+            recorded_intervals.append(interval)
+            raise asyncio.CancelledError
+
+        with (
+            patch.object(async_client, "_request", new=AsyncMock(return_value=[])),
+            patch("asyncio.sleep", new=capturing_sleep),
+        ):
+            await _drain(async_client.stream_alerts(poll_interval=0.0), until_cancelled=True)
+
+        assert len(recorded_intervals) == 1
+
+    async def test_stream_alerts_empty_then_monitors_appear_no_transition(
+        self, async_client: AsyncHyperpingClient
+    ) -> None:
+        """Monitors appearing after an empty first poll set the baseline without yielding."""
+        poll1: list = []
+        poll2 = [_monitor_dict("mon_1", "Test", down=False)]
+
+        sleep_calls = 0
+
+        async def controlled_sleep(_interval: float) -> None:
+            nonlocal sleep_calls
+            sleep_calls += 1
+            if sleep_calls >= 2:
+                raise asyncio.CancelledError
+
+        with (
+            patch.object(async_client, "_request", new=AsyncMock(side_effect=[poll1, poll2])),
+            patch("asyncio.sleep", new=controlled_sleep),
+        ):
+            results = await _drain(
+                async_client.stream_alerts(poll_interval=0.0), until_cancelled=True
+            )
+
+        assert results == []
+
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # stream_incident_updates tests