diff --git a/.changes/unreleased/Features-20240424-180639.yaml b/.changes/unreleased/Features-20240424-180639.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..dbb4fb9b2ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changes/unreleased/Features-20240424-180639.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+kind: Features
+body: add --empty flag to dbt build command
+time: 2024-04-24T18:06:39.438457-04:00
+custom:
+  Author: michelleark
+  Issue: "10026"
diff --git a/core/dbt/cli/main.py b/core/dbt/cli/main.py
index 07a9de861a7..35a01700acd 100644
--- a/core/dbt/cli/main.py
+++ b/core/dbt/cli/main.py
@@ -170,6 +170,7 @@ def cli(ctx, **kwargs):
 @cli.command("build")
 @click.pass_context
 @global_flags
+@p.empty
 @p.exclude
 @p.export_saved_queries
 @p.full_refresh
diff --git a/tests/functional/adapter/empty/__init__.py b/tests/functional/adapter/empty/__init__.py
deleted file mode 100644
index e69de29bb2d..00000000000
diff --git a/tests/functional/adapter/empty/test_empty.py b/tests/functional/test_empty.py
similarity index 80%
rename from tests/functional/adapter/empty/test_empty.py
rename to tests/functional/test_empty.py
index a014a640c1f..8e6e834427f 100644
--- a/tests/functional/adapter/empty/test_empty.py
+++ b/tests/functional/test_empty.py
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
 """
 
 
-class BaseTestEmpty:
+class TestEmptyFlag:
     @pytest.fixture(scope="class")
     def seeds(self):
         return {
@@ -70,6 +70,13 @@ def test_run_with_empty(self, project):
         run_dbt(["run", "--empty"])
         self.assert_row_count(project, "model", 0)
 
+        # build without empty - 3 expected rows in output - 1 from each input
+        run_dbt(["build"])
+        self.assert_row_count(project, "model", 3)
+
+        # build with empty - 0 expected rows in output
+        run_dbt(["build", "--empty"])
+        self.assert_row_count(project, "model", 0)
 
-class TestEmpty(BaseTestEmpty):
-    pass
+        # ensure dbt compile supports --empty flag
+        run_dbt(["compile", "--empty"])