diff --git a/lib/modules/datasource/github-releases/index.ts b/lib/modules/datasource/github-releases/index.ts
index d96654e1529b14f14daf9d2196be2471d33929be..8ed5f66920daab958bed0e6317fc6829b6b4ad63 100644
--- a/lib/modules/datasource/github-releases/index.ts
+++ b/lib/modules/datasource/github-releases/index.ts
@@ -237,26 +237,22 @@ export class GithubReleasesDatasource extends Datasource {
    *  - Sanitize the versions if desired (e.g. strip out leading 'v')
    *  - Return a dependency object containing sourceUrl string and releases array
    */
-  async getReleases(config: GetReleasesConfig): Promise<ReleaseResult | null> {
-    let result: ReleaseResult | null = null;
+  async getReleases(config: GetReleasesConfig): Promise<ReleaseResult> {
     const releases = await this.releasesCache.getItems(config);
-    if (releases.length) {
-      result = {
-        sourceUrl: getSourceUrl(config.packageName, config.registryUrl),
-        releases: releases.map((item) => {
-          const { version, releaseTimestamp, isStable } = item;
-          const result: Release = {
-            version,
-            gitRef: version,
-            releaseTimestamp,
-          };
-          if (isStable !== undefined) {
-            result.isStable = isStable;
-          }
-          return result;
-        }),
-      };
-    }
-    return result;
+    return {
+      sourceUrl: getSourceUrl(config.packageName, config.registryUrl),
+      releases: releases.map((item) => {
+        const { version, releaseTimestamp, isStable } = item;
+        const result: Release = {
+          version,
+          gitRef: version,
+          releaseTimestamp,
+        };
+        if (isStable !== undefined) {
+          result.isStable = isStable;
+        }
+        return result;
+      }),
+    };
   }
 }
diff --git a/lib/modules/datasource/github-tags/index.ts b/lib/modules/datasource/github-tags/index.ts
index dafdad72bbf9b07063b7bdf2dbf421cf4e19993b..6b0ccdff0879dce1b02e70824d74e44895a55ffe 100644
--- a/lib/modules/datasource/github-tags/index.ts
+++ b/lib/modules/datasource/github-tags/index.ts
@@ -82,14 +82,9 @@ export class GithubTagsDatasource extends GithubReleasesDatasource {
 
   override async getReleases(
     config: GetReleasesConfig
-  ): Promise<ReleaseResult | null> {
+  ): Promise<ReleaseResult> {
     const tagReleases = await this.tagsCache.getItems(config);
 
-    // istanbul ignore if
-    if (!tagReleases.length) {
-      return null;
-    }
-
     const tagsResult: ReleaseResult = {
       sourceUrl: getSourceUrl(config.packageName, config.registryUrl),
       releases: tagReleases.map((item) => ({ ...item, gitRef: item.version })),
@@ -113,8 +108,8 @@ export class GithubTagsDatasource extends GithubReleasesDatasource {
       });
 
       tagsResult.releases = mergedReleases;
-    } catch (e) {
-      // no-op
+    } catch (err) /* istanbul ignore next */ {
+      logger.debug({ err }, `Error fetching additional info for GitHub tags`);
     }
 
     return tagsResult;