diff --git a/app/models/ci/pipeline.rb b/app/models/ci/pipeline.rb
index 63639ff2c1..e90924af31 100644
--- a/app/models/ci/pipeline.rb
+++ b/app/models/ci/pipeline.rb
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ module Ci
       trigger_requests.any?
     end
 
-    def build_builds(user, status = 'success', trigger_request = nil)
+    def build_builds(user, trigger_request = nil, status = 'success')
       return unless config_processor
       config_processor.stages.any? do |stage|
         build_builds_for_stage(stage, user, status, trigger_request).present?
@@ -99,8 +99,7 @@ module Ci
     end
 
     def create_builds(user, trigger_request = nil)
-      build_builds(user, 'success', trigger_request)
-      save
+      build_builds(user, trigger_request) && save
     end
 
     def create_next_builds(build)
diff --git a/spec/models/ci/pipeline_spec.rb b/spec/models/ci/pipeline_spec.rb
index 0d769ed732..458013ad9f 100644
--- a/spec/models/ci/pipeline_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/ci/pipeline_spec.rb
@@ -258,6 +258,16 @@ describe Ci::Pipeline, models: true do
         end
       end
     end
+
+    context 'when no builds created' do
+      before do
+        stub_ci_pipeline_yaml_file(YAML.dump(before_script: ['ls']))
+      end
+
+      it 'returns false' do
+        expect(pipeline.create_builds(nil)).to be_falsey
+      end
+    end
   end
 
   describe "#finished_at" do