diff --git a/cli/tests/integration_tests.rs b/cli/tests/integration_tests.rs
index 47acdc9ee0..72746f4233 100644
--- a/cli/tests/integration_tests.rs
+++ b/cli/tests/integration_tests.rs
@@ -537,7 +537,9 @@ mod integration {
       .expect("Failed to spawn script")
       .wait()
       .expect("Failed to wait for child process");
-    assert!(status.success());
+    // No target files found
+    assert!(!status.success());
+
     // Check without ignore.
     let status = util::deno_cmd()
       .current_dir(util::root_path())
@@ -551,6 +553,7 @@ mod integration {
       .wait()
       .expect("Failed to wait for child process");
     assert!(!status.success());
+
     // Format the source file.
     let status = util::deno_cmd()
       .current_dir(util::root_path())
@@ -4986,6 +4989,7 @@ console.log("finish");
   fn lint_ignore_unexplicit_files() {
     let output = util::deno_cmd()
       .current_dir(util::root_path())
+      .env("NO_COLOR", "1")
       .arg("lint")
       .arg("--unstable")
       .arg("--ignore=./")
@@ -4994,14 +4998,18 @@ console.log("finish");
       .unwrap()
       .wait_with_output()
       .unwrap();
-    assert!(output.status.success());
-    assert_eq!(output.stderr, b"Checked 0 file\n");
+    assert!(!output.status.success());
+    assert_eq!(
+      String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr),
+      "error: No target files found.\n"
+    );
   }
 
   #[test]
   fn fmt_ignore_unexplicit_files() {
     let output = util::deno_cmd()
       .current_dir(util::root_path())
+      .env("NO_COLOR", "1")
       .arg("fmt")
       .arg("--check")
       .arg("--ignore=./")
@@ -5010,8 +5018,11 @@ console.log("finish");
       .unwrap()
       .wait_with_output()
       .unwrap();
-    assert!(output.status.success());
-    assert_eq!(output.stderr, b"Checked 0 file\n");
+    assert!(!output.status.success());
+    assert_eq!(
+      String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr),
+      "error: No target files found.\n"
+    );
   }
 
   #[test]
diff --git a/cli/tools/fmt.rs b/cli/tools/fmt.rs
index d4002984a1..6afcb90af2 100644
--- a/cli/tools/fmt.rs
+++ b/cli/tools/fmt.rs
@@ -37,7 +37,13 @@ pub async fn format(
 ) -> Result<(), AnyError> {
   let target_file_resolver = || {
     // collect the files that are to be formatted
-    collect_files(&args, &ignore, is_supported_ext_fmt)
+    collect_files(&args, &ignore, is_supported_ext_fmt).and_then(|files| {
+      if files.is_empty() {
+        Err(generic_error("No target files found."))
+      } else {
+        Ok(files)
+      }
+    })
   };
   let operation = |paths: Vec<PathBuf>| {
     let config = get_typescript_config();
diff --git a/cli/tools/lint.rs b/cli/tools/lint.rs
index 165f32233a..2f31c88d60 100644
--- a/cli/tools/lint.rs
+++ b/cli/tools/lint.rs
@@ -47,7 +47,14 @@ pub async fn lint_files(
   if args.len() == 1 && args[0].to_string_lossy() == "-" {
     return lint_stdin(json);
   }
-  let target_files = collect_files(&args, &ignore, is_supported_ext)?;
+  let target_files =
+    collect_files(&args, &ignore, is_supported_ext).and_then(|files| {
+      if files.is_empty() {
+        Err(generic_error("No target files found."))
+      } else {
+        Ok(files)
+      }
+    })?;
   debug!("Found {} files", target_files.len());
   let target_files_len = target_files.len();