diff --git a/Doc/library/doctest.rst b/Doc/library/doctest.rst
--- a/Doc/library/doctest.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/doctest.rst
@@ -1024,6 +1024,16 @@
 
    This function uses the same search technique as :func:`testmod`.
 
+   .. note::
+      Unlike :func:`testmod` and :class:`DocTestFinder`, this function raises
+      a :exc:`ValueError` if *module* contains no docstrings.  You can prevent
+      this error by passing a :class:`DocTestFinder` instance as the
+      *test_finder* argument with its *exclude_empty* keyword argument set
+      to ``False``::
+
+         >>> finder = doctest.DocTestFinder(exclude_empty=False)
+         >>> suite = doctest.DocTestSuite(test_finder=finder)
+
 
 Under the covers, :func:`DocTestSuite` creates a :class:`unittest.TestSuite` out
 of :class:`doctest.DocTestCase` instances, and :class:`DocTestCase` is a
diff --git a/Lib/doctest.py b/Lib/doctest.py
--- a/Lib/doctest.py
+++ b/Lib/doctest.py
@@ -2334,7 +2334,10 @@
     elif not tests:
         # Why do we want to do this? Because it reveals a bug that might
         # otherwise be hidden.
-        raise ValueError(module, "has no tests")
+        # This is probably a bug since tests.countTestCases() can be zero,
+        # but it would be too big of a change to fix in a maintenance release.
+        # See also issue #14649.
+        raise ValueError(module, "has no docstrings")
 
     tests.sort()
     suite = unittest.TestSuite()
diff --git a/Lib/test/doctest/__init__.py b/Lib/test/doctest/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Lib/test/doctest/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,1 @@
+#
diff --git a/Lib/test/doctest/sample_no_docstrings.py b/Lib/test/doctest/sample_no_docstrings.py
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Lib/test/doctest/sample_no_docstrings.py
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# This is a sample module used for testing doctest.
+#
+# This module is for testing how doctest handles a module with no
+# docstrings.
+
+
+class Foo(object):
+
+    # A class with no docstring.
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        pass
diff --git a/Lib/test/doctest/sample_no_doctests.py b/Lib/test/doctest/sample_no_doctests.py
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Lib/test/doctest/sample_no_doctests.py
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+"""This is a sample module used for testing doctest.
+
+This module is for testing how doctest handles a module with docstrings
+but no doctest examples.
+
+"""
+
+
+class Foo(object):
+    """A docstring with no doctest examples.
+
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        pass
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_doctest.py b/Lib/test/test_doctest.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_doctest.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_doctest.py
@@ -1986,6 +1986,31 @@
          >>> suite.run(unittest.TestResult())
          <unittest.result.TestResult run=9 errors=0 failures=4>
 
+       The module need not contain any doctest examples:
+
+         >>> suite = doctest.DocTestSuite('test.doctest.sample_no_doctests')
+         >>> suite.run(unittest.TestResult())
+         <unittest.result.TestResult run=0 errors=0 failures=0>
+
+       However, if DocTestSuite finds no docstrings, it raises an error:
+
+         >>> try:
+         ...     doctest.DocTestSuite('test.doctest.sample_no_docstrings')
+         ... except ValueError as e:
+         ...     error = e
+
+         >>> print(error.args[1])
+         has no docstrings
+
+       You can prevent this error by passing a DocTestFinder instance with
+       the `exclude_empty` keyword argument set to False:
+
+         >>> finder = doctest.DocTestFinder(exclude_empty=False)
+         >>> suite = doctest.DocTestSuite('test.doctest.sample_no_docstrings',
+         ...                              test_finder=finder)
+         >>> suite.run(unittest.TestResult())
+         <unittest.result.TestResult run=0 errors=0 failures=0>
+
        We can use the current module:
 
          >>> suite = test.sample_doctest.test_suite()