diff --git a/mlir/lib/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformOps.cpp b/mlir/lib/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformOps.cpp
--- a/mlir/lib/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformOps.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformOps.cpp
@@ -1048,6 +1048,12 @@
     return diag;
   }
 
+  if (!topLevelOp) {
+    InFlightDiagnostic diag = emitOpError()
+                              << "expects at least one non-pattern op";
+    return diag;
+  }
+
   return success();
 }
 
diff --git a/mlir/test/Dialect/Transform/ops-invalid.mlir b/mlir/test/Dialect/Transform/ops-invalid.mlir
--- a/mlir/test/Dialect/Transform/ops-invalid.mlir
+++ b/mlir/test/Dialect/Transform/ops-invalid.mlir
@@ -124,6 +124,28 @@
   }
 }
 
+// -----
+
+// expected-error @below {{op expects at least one non-pattern op}}
+transform.with_pdl_patterns {
+^bb0(%arg0: !pdl.operation):
+  pdl.pattern @some : benefit(1) {
+    %0 = pdl.operation "test.foo"
+    pdl.rewrite %0 with "transform.dialect"
+  }
+}
+
+// -----
+
+transform.sequence failures(propagate) {
+^bb0(%arg0: !pdl.operation):
+  // expected-error @below {{op expects at least one non-pattern op}}
+  with_pdl_patterns %arg0 : !pdl.operation {
+  ^bb1(%arg1: !pdl.operation):
+  }
+}
+
+
 // -----
 
 // expected-error @below {{expects at least one region}}
diff --git a/mlir/test/Dialect/Transform/ops.mlir b/mlir/test/Dialect/Transform/ops.mlir
--- a/mlir/test/Dialect/Transform/ops.mlir
+++ b/mlir/test/Dialect/Transform/ops.mlir
@@ -21,16 +21,6 @@
   }
 }
 
-// CHECK: transform.sequence
-// CHECK: ^{{.+}}(%[[ARG:.+]]: !pdl.operation):
-transform.sequence failures(propagate) {
-^bb0(%arg0: !pdl.operation):
-  // CHECK: with_pdl_patterns %[[ARG]] : !pdl.operation
-  with_pdl_patterns %arg0 : !pdl.operation {
-  ^bb1(%arg1: !pdl.operation):
-  }
-}
-
 // Using the same value multiple times without consuming it is fine.
 // CHECK: transform.sequence
 // CHECK: %[[V:.+]] = sequence %{{.*}} : !pdl.operation -> !pdl.operation