diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/font_manager.py b/lib/matplotlib/font_manager.py
index 312e8ee97246..813bee6eb623 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/font_manager.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/font_manager.py
@@ -266,8 +266,11 @@ def _get_fontconfig_fonts():
 @lru_cache
 def _get_macos_fonts():
     """Cache and list the font paths known to ``system_profiler SPFontsDataType``."""
-    d, = plistlib.loads(
-        subprocess.check_output(["system_profiler", "-xml", "SPFontsDataType"]))
+    try:
+        d, = plistlib.loads(
+            subprocess.check_output(["system_profiler", "-xml", "SPFontsDataType"]))
+    except (OSError, subprocess.CalledProcessError, plistlib.InvalidFileException):
+        return []
     return [Path(entry["path"]) for entry in d["_items"]]