diff --git a/rewrite-java/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/java/internal/template/AnnotationTemplateGenerator.java b/rewrite-java/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/java/internal/template/AnnotationTemplateGenerator.java
index 50345fd75da..0f44d7bcb69 100644
--- a/rewrite-java/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/java/internal/template/AnnotationTemplateGenerator.java
+++ b/rewrite-java/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/java/internal/template/AnnotationTemplateGenerator.java
@@ -223,8 +223,10 @@ private void classDeclaration(StringBuilder before, J.ClassDeclaration parent, S
                 classDeclaration(before, (J.ClassDeclaration) statement, templated, cursor);
             }
         }
-        c = c.withBody(null).withLeadingAnnotations(null).withPrefix(Space.EMPTY);
-        before.insert(0, c.printTrimmed(cursor).trim() + '{');
+        c = c.withBody(J.Block.createEmptyBlock()).withLeadingAnnotations(null).withPrefix(Space.EMPTY);
+        String printed = c.printTrimmed(cursor);
+        int braceIndex = printed.lastIndexOf('{');
+        before.insert(0, braceIndex == -1 ? printed + '{' : printed.substring(0, braceIndex + 1));
     }
 
     private String variable(J.VariableDeclarations variable, Cursor cursor) {