diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index a95350b0b..59e44e404 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 Release 0.6.3 (in development)
 ==============================
 
+* #253: Ignore graphviz directives without content instead of
+  raising an unhandled exception.
+
 * #241: Fix a crash building LaTeX output for documents that contain
   a todolist directive.
 
diff --git a/sphinx/ext/graphviz.py b/sphinx/ext/graphviz.py
index a5a7c92ac..1b6a03eef 100644
--- a/sphinx/ext/graphviz.py
+++ b/sphinx/ext/graphviz.py
@@ -50,8 +50,13 @@ class Graphviz(Directive):
     option_spec = {}
 
     def run(self):
+        dotcode = '\n'.join(self.content)
+        if not dotcode.strip():
+            return [self.state_machine.reporter.warning(
+                'Ignoring "graphviz" directive without content.',
+                line=self.lineno)]
         node = graphviz()
-        node['code'] = '\n'.join(self.content)
+        node['code'] = dotcode
         node['options'] = []
         return [node]