diff --git a/lib/classes/phpinterface/class.phpinterface_fpm.php b/lib/classes/phpinterface/class.phpinterface_fpm.php
index 2f84a2a2..2622b090 100644
--- a/lib/classes/phpinterface/class.phpinterface_fpm.php
+++ b/lib/classes/phpinterface/class.phpinterface_fpm.php
@@ -435,6 +435,27 @@ class phpinterface_fpm
 		return $configdir;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * create a dummy fpm pool config with minimal configuration
+	 * (this is used whenever a config directory is empty but needs at least one pool to startup/restart)
+	 *
+	 * @param string $configdir
+	 */
+	public static function createDummyPool($configdir)
+	{
+		if (! is_dir($configdir)) {
+			safe_exec('mkdir -p ' . escapeshellarg($configdir));
+		}
+		$config = makeCorrectFile($configdir . '/dummy.conf');
+		$dummy = "[dummy]
+user = ".Settings::Get('system.httpuser')."
+listen = /run/" . base64_encode($configdir) . "-fpm.sock
+pm = static
+pm.max_children = 1
+";
+		file_put_contents($config, $dummy);
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * return the admin-data of a specific admin
 	 *
diff --git a/scripts/jobs/cron_tasks.inc.http.10.apache.php b/scripts/jobs/cron_tasks.inc.http.10.apache.php
index c594e6d3..5887e9a7 100644
--- a/scripts/jobs/cron_tasks.inc.http.10.apache.php
+++ b/scripts/jobs/cron_tasks.inc.http.10.apache.php
@@ -59,11 +59,18 @@ class apache extends HttpConfigBase
 	{
 		if ((int) Settings::Get('phpfpm.enabled') == 1) {
 			// get all start/stop commands
-			$startstop_sel = Database::prepare("SELECT reload_cmd FROM `" . TABLE_PANEL_FPMDAEMONS . "`");
+			$startstop_sel = Database::prepare("SELECT reload_cmd, config_dir FROM `" . TABLE_PANEL_FPMDAEMONS . "`");
 			Database::pexecute($startstop_sel);
 			$restart_cmds = $startstop_sel->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
 			// restart all php-fpm instances
 			foreach ($restart_cmds as $restart_cmd) {
+				// check whether the config dir is empty (no domains uses this daemon)
+				// so we need to create a dummy
+				$isDirEmpty = !(new \FilesystemIterator($restart_cmd['config_dir']))->valid();
+				if ($isDirEmpty) {
+					$this->logger->logAction(CRON_ACTION, LOG_INFO, 'apache::reload: fpm config directory "' . $restart_cmd['config_dir'] . '" is empty. Creating dummy.');
+					phpinterface_fpm::createDummyPool($restart_cmd['config_dir']);
+				}
 				$this->logger->logAction(CRON_ACTION, LOG_INFO, 'apache::reload: running ' . $restart_cmd['reload_cmd']);
 				safe_exec(escapeshellcmd($restart_cmd['reload_cmd']));
 			}
diff --git a/scripts/jobs/cron_tasks.inc.http.20.lighttpd.php b/scripts/jobs/cron_tasks.inc.http.20.lighttpd.php
index 3525a471..99232c8c 100644
--- a/scripts/jobs/cron_tasks.inc.http.20.lighttpd.php
+++ b/scripts/jobs/cron_tasks.inc.http.20.lighttpd.php
@@ -59,11 +59,18 @@ class lighttpd extends HttpConfigBase
 	{
 		if ((int) Settings::Get('phpfpm.enabled') == 1) {
 			// get all start/stop commands
-			$startstop_sel = Database::prepare("SELECT reload_cmd FROM `" . TABLE_PANEL_FPMDAEMONS . "`");
+			$startstop_sel = Database::prepare("SELECT reload_cmd, config_dir FROM `" . TABLE_PANEL_FPMDAEMONS . "`");
 			Database::pexecute($startstop_sel);
 			$restart_cmds = $startstop_sel->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
 			// restart all php-fpm instances
 			foreach ($restart_cmds as $restart_cmd) {
+				// check whether the config dir is empty (no domains uses this daemon)
+				// so we need to create a dummy
+				$isDirEmpty = !(new \FilesystemIterator($restart_cmd['config_dir']))->valid();
+				if ($isDirEmpty) {
+					$this->logger->logAction(CRON_ACTION, LOG_INFO, 'lighttpd::reload: fpm config directory "' . $restart_cmd['config_dir'] . '" is empty. Creating dummy.');
+					phpinterface_fpm::createDummyPool($restart_cmd['config_dir']);
+				}
 				$this->logger->logAction(CRON_ACTION, LOG_INFO, 'lighttpd::reload: running ' . $restart_cmd['reload_cmd']);
 				safe_exec(escapeshellcmd($restart_cmd['reload_cmd']));
 			}
diff --git a/scripts/jobs/cron_tasks.inc.http.30.nginx.php b/scripts/jobs/cron_tasks.inc.http.30.nginx.php
index 2bf53daa..0685ed7c 100644
--- a/scripts/jobs/cron_tasks.inc.http.30.nginx.php
+++ b/scripts/jobs/cron_tasks.inc.http.30.nginx.php
@@ -74,11 +74,18 @@ class nginx extends HttpConfigBase
 			safe_exec(Settings::Get('system.phpreload_command'));
 		} elseif ((int) Settings::Get('phpfpm.enabled') == 1) {
 			// get all start/stop commands
-			$startstop_sel = Database::prepare("SELECT reload_cmd FROM `" . TABLE_PANEL_FPMDAEMONS . "`");
+			$startstop_sel = Database::prepare("SELECT reload_cmd, config_dir FROM `" . TABLE_PANEL_FPMDAEMONS . "`");
 			Database::pexecute($startstop_sel);
 			$restart_cmds = $startstop_sel->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
 			// restart all php-fpm instances
 			foreach ($restart_cmds as $restart_cmd) {
+				// check whether the config dir is empty (no domains uses this daemon)
+				// so we need to create a dummy
+				$isDirEmpty = !(new \FilesystemIterator($restart_cmd['config_dir']))->valid();
+				if ($isDirEmpty) {
+					$this->logger->logAction(CRON_ACTION, LOG_INFO, 'nginx::reload: fpm config directory "' . $restart_cmd['config_dir'] . '" is empty. Creating dummy.');
+					phpinterface_fpm::createDummyPool($restart_cmd['config_dir']);
+				}
 				$this->logger->logAction(CRON_ACTION, LOG_INFO, 'nginx::reload: running ' . $restart_cmd['reload_cmd']);
 				safe_exec(escapeshellcmd($restart_cmd['reload_cmd']));
 			}