diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-biom-format.yml b/.github/workflows/build-biom-format.yml
index 3b2a71a4b74..652a9e493e4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-biom-format.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-biom-format.yml
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ jobs:
           persist-credentials: false
 
       - name: Apply patches
+        if: hashFiles(format('python-wheels/patches/biom-format/{0}/*.patch', env.BIOM_FORMAT_VERSION)) != ''
         run: git apply -v python-wheels/patches/biom-format/${{ env.BIOM_FORMAT_VERSION }}/*.patch
 
       - name: Build wheels
diff --git a/docs/packages/biom-format.yaml b/docs/packages/biom-format.yaml
index 890711af5c9..5092ded9517 100644
--- a/docs/packages/biom-format.yaml
+++ b/docs/packages/biom-format.yaml
@@ -18,3 +18,4 @@ versions:
   - filename: biom_format-2.1.17-cp314-cp314t-manylinux_2_31_riscv64.manylinux_2_39_riscv64.whl
     sha256: ba7cc51fec0abef70286e9bfd4e657b69bcd603052f4e297d7fb957b51135304
     requires-python: '>=3.9'
+- version: 2.1.18