diff --git a/newsfragments/down-during-up-no-containers.bugfix b/newsfragments/down-during-up-no-containers.bugfix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ed4e319
--- /dev/null
+++ b/newsfragments/down-during-up-no-containers.bugfix
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Skip running compose-down during up when there are no active containers
diff --git a/podman_compose.py b/podman_compose.py
index 69613e3..22d55cd 100755
--- a/podman_compose.py
+++ b/podman_compose.py
@@ -2891,7 +2891,7 @@ async def compose_up(compose: PodmanCompose, args):
         .splitlines()
     )
     diff_hashes = [i for i in hashes if i and i != compose.yaml_hash]
-    if args.force_recreate or len(diff_hashes):
+    if (args.force_recreate and len(hashes) > 0) or len(diff_hashes):
         log.info("recreating: ...")
         down_args = argparse.Namespace(**dict(args.__dict__, volumes=False, rmi=None))
         await compose.commands["down"](compose, down_args)