diff --git a/odoo/addons/base/ir/ir_ui_view.py b/odoo/addons/base/ir/ir_ui_view.py
index 55edfec992e..66cf87c7ee9 100644
--- a/odoo/addons/base/ir/ir_ui_view.py
+++ b/odoo/addons/base/ir/ir_ui_view.py
@@ -341,6 +341,8 @@ actual arch.
             else:
 
                 try:
+                    if not values.get('arch') and not values.get('arch_base'):
+                        raise ValidationError(_('Missing view architecture.'))
                     values['type'] = etree.fromstring(values.get('arch') or values.get('arch_base')).tag
                 except LxmlError:
                     # don't raise here, the constraint that runs `self._check_xml` will