diff --git a/src/calibre/library/catalog.py b/src/calibre/library/catalog.py
index 96310d2111..7d7421c601 100644
--- a/src/calibre/library/catalog.py
+++ b/src/calibre/library/catalog.py
@@ -832,9 +832,8 @@ class EPUB_MOBI(CatalogPlugin):
         # Methods
         def buildSources(self):
             if self.booksByTitle is None:
-                self.fetchBooksByTitle()
-            if not len(self.booksByTitle):
-                return False
+                if not self.fetchBooksByTitle():
+                    return False
             self.fetchBooksByAuthor()
             self.generateHTMLDescriptions()
             self.generateHTMLByAuthor()
@@ -996,14 +995,18 @@ class EPUB_MOBI(CatalogPlugin):
                 titles.append(this_title)
 
             # Re-sort based on title_sort
-            self.booksByTitle = sorted(titles,
-                                 key=lambda x:(x['title_sort'].upper(), x['title_sort'].upper()))
-            if False and self.verbose:
-                self.opts.log.info("fetchBooksByTitle(): %d books" % len(self.booksByTitle))
-                self.opts.log.info(" %-40s %-40s" % ('title', 'title_sort'))
-                for title in self.booksByTitle:
-                    self.opts.log.info((u" %-40s %-40s" % (title['title'][0:40],
-                                                           title['title_sort'][0:40])).encode('utf-8'))
+            if len(titles):
+                self.booksByTitle = sorted(titles,
+                                     key=lambda x:(x['title_sort'].upper(), x['title_sort'].upper()))
+                if False and self.verbose:
+                    self.opts.log.info("fetchBooksByTitle(): %d books" % len(self.booksByTitle))
+                    self.opts.log.info(" %-40s %-40s" % ('title', 'title_sort'))
+                    for title in self.booksByTitle:
+                        self.opts.log.info((u" %-40s %-40s" % (title['title'][0:40],
+                                                               title['title_sort'][0:40])).encode('utf-8'))
+                return True
+            else:
+                return False
 
         def fetchBooksByAuthor(self):
             # Generate a list of titles sorted by author from the database