diff --git a/pandas/core/reshape/pivot.py b/pandas/core/reshape/pivot.py
index 90324044c237c..63f59794d363a 100644
--- a/pandas/core/reshape/pivot.py
+++ b/pandas/core/reshape/pivot.py
@@ -1163,6 +1163,9 @@ def _normalize(
 
     elif margins is True:
         # keep index and column of pivoted table
+        if table.empty:
+            raise ValueError("Can't get margins since the result dataframe is empty")
+
         table_index = table.index
         table_columns = table.columns
         last_ind_or_col = table.iloc[-1, :].name