diff --git a/libraries/baking/src/ModelBaker.cpp b/libraries/baking/src/ModelBaker.cpp
index 46da29cf00..adf6deeb56 100644
--- a/libraries/baking/src/ModelBaker.cpp
+++ b/libraries/baking/src/ModelBaker.cpp
@@ -246,6 +246,13 @@ void ModelBaker::bakeSourceCopy() {
         // Begin hfm baking
         baker.run();
 
+        for (auto error : baker.getDracoErrors()) {
+            if (error) {
+                handleError("Failed to finalize the baking of a draco Geometry node from model " + _modelURL.toString());
+                return;
+            }
+        }
+
         _hfmModel = baker.getHFMModel();
         _materialMapping = baker.getMaterialMapping();
         dracoMeshes = baker.getDracoMeshes();
@@ -437,8 +444,7 @@ void ModelBaker::abort() {
 
 bool ModelBaker::buildDracoMeshNode(FBXNode& dracoMeshNode, const QByteArray& dracoMeshBytes, const std::vector<hifi::ByteArray>& dracoMaterialList) {
     if (dracoMeshBytes.isEmpty()) {
-        handleError("Failed to finalize the baking of a draco Geometry node from model " + _modelURL.toString());
-        return false;
+        handleWarning("Empty mesh detected in model: '" + _modelURL.toString() + "'. It will be included in the baked output.");
     }
 
     FBXNode dracoNode;
diff --git a/libraries/baking/src/OBJBaker.h b/libraries/baking/src/OBJBaker.h
index 9d0fe53e3c..55adec5786 100644
--- a/libraries/baking/src/OBJBaker.h
+++ b/libraries/baking/src/OBJBaker.h
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ protected:
 
 private:
     void createFBXNodeTree(FBXNode& rootNode, const hfm::Model::Pointer& hfmModel, const hifi::ByteArray& dracoMesh);
-    void setMaterialNodeProperties(FBXNode& materialNode, QString material,  const hfm::Model::Pointer& hfmModel);
+    void setMaterialNodeProperties(FBXNode& materialNode, QString material, const hfm::Model::Pointer& hfmModel);
     NodeID nextNodeID() { return _nodeID++; }
 
     NodeID _nodeID { 0 };
diff --git a/libraries/hfm/src/hfm/HFM.h b/libraries/hfm/src/hfm/HFM.h
index 484a10aa3b..888e562bca 100644
--- a/libraries/hfm/src/hfm/HFM.h
+++ b/libraries/hfm/src/hfm/HFM.h
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ const int MAX_NUM_PIXELS_FOR_FBX_TEXTURE = 2048 * 2048;
 
 using ShapeVertices = std::vector<glm::vec3>;
 // The version of the Draco mesh binary data itself. See also: FBX_DRACO_MESH_VERSION in FBX.h
-static const int DRACO_MESH_VERSION = 2;
+static const int DRACO_MESH_VERSION = 3;
 
 static const int DRACO_BEGIN_CUSTOM_HIFI_ATTRIBUTES = 1000;
 static const int DRACO_ATTRIBUTE_MATERIAL_ID = DRACO_BEGIN_CUSTOM_HIFI_ATTRIBUTES;
diff --git a/libraries/model-baker/src/model-baker/Baker.cpp b/libraries/model-baker/src/model-baker/Baker.cpp
index c896613df5..47a8db82b8 100644
--- a/libraries/model-baker/src/model-baker/Baker.cpp
+++ b/libraries/model-baker/src/model-baker/Baker.cpp
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ namespace baker {
     class BakerEngineBuilder {
     public:
         using Input = VaryingSet3<hfm::Model::Pointer, hifi::VariantHash, hifi::URL>;
-        using Output = VaryingSet4<hfm::Model::Pointer, MaterialMapping, std::vector<hifi::ByteArray>, std::vector<std::vector<hifi::ByteArray>>>;
+        using Output = VaryingSet5<hfm::Model::Pointer, MaterialMapping, std::vector<hifi::ByteArray>, std::vector<bool>, std::vector<std::vector<hifi::ByteArray>>>;
         using JobModel = Task::ModelIO<BakerEngineBuilder, Input, Output>;
         void build(JobModel& model, const Varying& input, Varying& output) {
             const auto& hfmModelIn = input.getN<Input>(0);
@@ -168,7 +168,8 @@ namespace baker {
             const auto buildDracoMeshInputs = BuildDracoMeshTask::Input(meshesIn, normalsPerMesh, tangentsPerMesh).asVarying();
             const auto buildDracoMeshOutputs = model.addJob<BuildDracoMeshTask>("BuildDracoMesh", buildDracoMeshInputs);
             const auto dracoMeshes = buildDracoMeshOutputs.getN<BuildDracoMeshTask::Output>(0);
-            const auto materialList = buildDracoMeshOutputs.getN<BuildDracoMeshTask::Output>(1);
+            const auto dracoErrors = buildDracoMeshOutputs.getN<BuildDracoMeshTask::Output>(1);
+            const auto materialList = buildDracoMeshOutputs.getN<BuildDracoMeshTask::Output>(2);
 
             // Parse flow data
             const auto flowData = model.addJob<ParseFlowDataTask>("ParseFlowData", mapping);
@@ -181,7 +182,7 @@ namespace baker {
             const auto buildModelInputs = BuildModelTask::Input(hfmModelIn, meshesOut, jointsOut, jointRotationOffsets, jointIndices, flowData).asVarying();
             const auto hfmModelOut = model.addJob<BuildModelTask>("BuildModel", buildModelInputs);
 
-            output = Output(hfmModelOut, materialMapping, dracoMeshes, materialList);
+            output = Output(hfmModelOut, materialMapping, dracoMeshes, dracoErrors, materialList);
         }
     };
 
@@ -212,7 +213,11 @@ namespace baker {
         return _engine->getOutput().get<BakerEngineBuilder::Output>().get2();
     }
 
-    std::vector<std::vector<hifi::ByteArray>> Baker::getDracoMaterialLists() const {
+    std::vector<bool> Baker::getDracoErrors() const {
         return _engine->getOutput().get<BakerEngineBuilder::Output>().get3();
     }
+
+    std::vector<std::vector<hifi::ByteArray>> Baker::getDracoMaterialLists() const {
+        return _engine->getOutput().get<BakerEngineBuilder::Output>().get4();
+    }
 };
diff --git a/libraries/model-baker/src/model-baker/Baker.h b/libraries/model-baker/src/model-baker/Baker.h
index 6f74cb646e..9780484fa4 100644
--- a/libraries/model-baker/src/model-baker/Baker.h
+++ b/libraries/model-baker/src/model-baker/Baker.h
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ namespace baker {
         hfm::Model::Pointer getHFMModel() const;
         MaterialMapping getMaterialMapping() const;
         const std::vector<hifi::ByteArray>& getDracoMeshes() const;
+        std::vector<bool> getDracoErrors() const;
         // This is a ByteArray and not a std::string because the character sequence can contain the null character (particularly for FBX materials)
         std::vector<std::vector<hifi::ByteArray>> getDracoMaterialLists() const;
 
diff --git a/libraries/model-baker/src/model-baker/BuildDracoMeshTask.cpp b/libraries/model-baker/src/model-baker/BuildDracoMeshTask.cpp
index 25a45cefe5..180664a52a 100644
--- a/libraries/model-baker/src/model-baker/BuildDracoMeshTask.cpp
+++ b/libraries/model-baker/src/model-baker/BuildDracoMeshTask.cpp
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ std::vector<hifi::ByteArray> createMaterialList(const hfm::Mesh& mesh) {
     return materialList;
 }
 
-std::unique_ptr<draco::Mesh> createDracoMesh(const hfm::Mesh& mesh, const std::vector<glm::vec3>& normals, const std::vector<glm::vec3>& tangents, const std::vector<hifi::ByteArray>& materialList) {
+std::tuple<std::unique_ptr<draco::Mesh>, bool> createDracoMesh(const hfm::Mesh& mesh, const std::vector<glm::vec3>& normals, const std::vector<glm::vec3>& tangents, const std::vector<hifi::ByteArray>& materialList) {
     Q_ASSERT(normals.size() == 0 || (int)normals.size() == mesh.vertices.size());
     Q_ASSERT(mesh.colors.size() == 0 || mesh.colors.size() == mesh.vertices.size());
     Q_ASSERT(mesh.texCoords.size() == 0 || mesh.texCoords.size() == mesh.vertices.size());
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ std::unique_ptr<draco::Mesh> createDracoMesh(const hfm::Mesh& mesh, const std::v
     }
 
     if (numTriangles == 0) {
-        return std::unique_ptr<draco::Mesh>();
+        return std::make_tuple(std::unique_ptr<draco::Mesh>(), false);
     }
 
     draco::TriangleSoupMeshBuilder meshBuilder;
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ std::unique_ptr<draco::Mesh> createDracoMesh(const hfm::Mesh& mesh, const std::v
 
     if (!dracoMesh) {
         qCWarning(model_baker) << "Failed to finalize the baking of a draco Geometry node";
-        return std::unique_ptr<draco::Mesh>();
+        return std::make_tuple(std::unique_ptr<draco::Mesh>(), true);
     }
 
     // we need to modify unique attribute IDs for custom attributes
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ std::unique_ptr<draco::Mesh> createDracoMesh(const hfm::Mesh& mesh, const std::v
         dracoMesh->attribute(originalIndexAttributeID)->set_unique_id(DRACO_ATTRIBUTE_ORIGINAL_INDEX);
     }
     
-    return dracoMesh;
+    return std::make_tuple(std::move(dracoMesh), false);
 }
 #endif // not Q_OS_ANDROID
 
@@ -218,20 +218,25 @@ void BuildDracoMeshTask::run(const baker::BakeContextPointer& context, const Inp
     const auto& normalsPerMesh = input.get1();
     const auto& tangentsPerMesh = input.get2();
     auto& dracoBytesPerMesh = output.edit0();
-    auto& materialLists = output.edit1();
+    auto& dracoErrorsPerMesh = output.edit1();
+    auto& materialLists = output.edit2();
 
     dracoBytesPerMesh.reserve(meshes.size());
+    dracoErrorsPerMesh.reserve(meshes.size());
     materialLists.reserve(meshes.size());
     for (size_t i = 0; i < meshes.size(); i++) {
         const auto& mesh = meshes[i];
         const auto& normals = baker::safeGet(normalsPerMesh, i);
         const auto& tangents = baker::safeGet(tangentsPerMesh, i);
         dracoBytesPerMesh.emplace_back();
+        dracoErrorsPerMesh.emplace_back();
         auto& dracoBytes = dracoBytesPerMesh.back();
+        auto& dracoError = dracoErrorsPerMesh.back();
         materialLists.push_back(createMaterialList(mesh));
         const auto& materialList = materialLists.back();
 
-        auto dracoMesh = createDracoMesh(mesh, normals, tangents, materialList);
+        std::unique_ptr<draco::Mesh> dracoMesh;
+        std::tie(dracoMesh, dracoError) = createDracoMesh(mesh, normals, tangents, materialList);
 
         if (dracoMesh) {
             draco::Encoder encoder;
diff --git a/libraries/model-baker/src/model-baker/BuildDracoMeshTask.h b/libraries/model-baker/src/model-baker/BuildDracoMeshTask.h
index 0e33be3c41..ac9ad648ab 100644
--- a/libraries/model-baker/src/model-baker/BuildDracoMeshTask.h
+++ b/libraries/model-baker/src/model-baker/BuildDracoMeshTask.h
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ class BuildDracoMeshTask {
 public:
     using Config = BuildDracoMeshConfig;
     using Input = baker::VaryingSet3<std::vector<hfm::Mesh>, baker::NormalsPerMesh, baker::TangentsPerMesh>;
-    using Output = baker::VaryingSet2<std::vector<hifi::ByteArray>, std::vector<std::vector<hifi::ByteArray>>>;
+    using Output = baker::VaryingSet3<std::vector<hifi::ByteArray>, std::vector<bool>, std::vector<std::vector<hifi::ByteArray>>>;
     using JobModel = baker::Job::ModelIO<BuildDracoMeshTask, Input, Output, Config>;
 
     void configure(const Config& config);