diff --git a/sqlite_utils/cli.py b/sqlite_utils/cli.py
index 9b9ee20e..9c7022a5 100644
--- a/sqlite_utils/cli.py
+++ b/sqlite_utils/cli.py
@@ -1176,7 +1176,7 @@ def insert_upsert_implementation(
                 )
             else:
                 raise
-        if tracker is not None:
+        if tracker is not None and db.table(table).exists():
             db.table(table).transform(types=tracker.types)
 
         # Clean up open file-like objects
diff --git a/tests/test_cli.py b/tests/test_cli.py
index 40c3595c..f519257b 100644
--- a/tests/test_cli.py
+++ b/tests/test_cli.py
@@ -2305,6 +2305,21 @@ def test_insert_detect_types(tmpdir, option):
     ]
 
 
+def test_insert_detect_types_header_only_csv(tmpdir):
+    db_path = str(tmpdir / "test.db")
+    data = "name,age\n"
+
+    result = CliRunner().invoke(
+        cli.cli,
+        ["insert", db_path, "creatures", "-", "--csv", "--detect-types"],
+        catch_exceptions=False,
+        input=data,
+    )
+    assert result.exit_code == 0
+    db = Database(db_path)
+    assert not db["creatures"].exists()
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("option", (None, "-d", "--detect-types"))
 def test_upsert_detect_types(tmpdir, option):
     """Test that type detection is now the default behavior for upsert"""