diff --git a/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/typecheck/src/type_check_block.ts b/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/typecheck/src/type_check_block.ts
index 5a5535057c..5576556a71 100644
--- a/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/typecheck/src/type_check_block.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/typecheck/src/type_check_block.ts
@@ -304,8 +304,19 @@ class TcbTemplateBodyOp extends TcbOp {
     // children, as well as tracks bindings within the template.
     const tmplScope = Scope.forNodes(this.tcb, this.scope, this.template, guard);
 
-    // Render the template's `Scope` into a block.
-    let tmplBlock: ts.Statement = ts.createBlock(tmplScope.render());
+    // Render the template's `Scope` into its statements.
+    const statements = tmplScope.render();
+    if (statements.length === 0) {
+      // As an optimization, don't generate the scope's block if it has no statements. This is
+      // beneficial for templates that contain for example `<span *ngIf="first"></span>`, in which
+      // case there's no need to render the `NgIf` guard expression. This seems like a minor
+      // improvement, however it reduces the number of flow-node antecedents that TypeScript needs
+      // to keep into account for such cases, resulting in an overall reduction of
+      // type-checking time.
+      return null;
+    }
+
+    let tmplBlock: ts.Statement = ts.createBlock(statements);
     if (guard !== null) {
       // The scope has a guard that needs to be applied, so wrap the template block into an `if`
       // statement containing the guard expression.
diff --git a/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/typecheck/test/type_check_block_spec.ts b/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/typecheck/test/type_check_block_spec.ts
index ab7c6e73aa..9dafff8bde 100644
--- a/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/typecheck/test/type_check_block_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/typecheck/test/type_check_block_spec.ts
@@ -585,7 +585,7 @@ describe('type check blocks', () => {
           type: 'invocation',
         }]
       }];
-      const TEMPLATE = `<div *ngIf="person"></div>`;
+      const TEMPLATE = `<div *ngIf="person">{{person.name}}</div>`;
       const block = tcb(TEMPLATE, DIRECTIVES);
       expect(block).toContain('if (NgIf.ngTemplateGuard_ngIf(_t1, ((ctx).person)))');
     });
@@ -601,10 +601,26 @@ describe('type check blocks', () => {
           type: 'binding',
         }]
       }];
-      const TEMPLATE = `<div *ngIf="person !== null"></div>`;
+      const TEMPLATE = `<div *ngIf="person !== null">{{person.name}}</div>`;
       const block = tcb(TEMPLATE, DIRECTIVES);
       expect(block).toContain('if ((((ctx).person)) !== (null))');
     });
+
+    it('should not emit guards when the child scope is empty', () => {
+      const DIRECTIVES: TestDeclaration[] = [{
+        type: 'directive',
+        name: 'NgIf',
+        selector: '[ngIf]',
+        inputs: {'ngIf': 'ngIf'},
+        ngTemplateGuards: [{
+          inputName: 'ngIf',
+          type: 'invocation',
+        }]
+      }];
+      const TEMPLATE = `<div *ngIf="person">static</div>`;
+      const block = tcb(TEMPLATE, DIRECTIVES);
+      expect(block).not.toContain('NgIf.ngTemplateGuard_ngIf');
+    });
   });
 
   describe('outputs', () => {
@@ -681,7 +697,7 @@ describe('type check blocks', () => {
     };
 
     describe('config.applyTemplateContextGuards', () => {
-      const TEMPLATE = `<div *dir></div>`;
+      const TEMPLATE = `<div *dir>{{ value }}</div>`;
       const GUARD_APPLIED = 'if (Dir.ngTemplateContextGuard(';
 
       it('should apply template context guards when enabled', () => {