diff --git a/plugins/libplugin-pay.c b/plugins/libplugin-pay.c
index 3161ce7e6..5d28d2334 100644
--- a/plugins/libplugin-pay.c
+++ b/plugins/libplugin-pay.c
@@ -2625,6 +2625,17 @@ static struct command_result *routehint_getroute_result(struct command *cmd,
 		/* FIXME: ***DO*** we need to add this extra routehint?
 		 * Once we run out of routehints the default system will
 		 * just attempt directly routing to the destination anyway.  */
+	} else if (tal_count(d->routehints) == 0) {
+		/* If we don't have any routehints and the destination
+		 * isn't reachable, then there is no point in
+		 * continuing. */
+
+		payment_abort(
+		    p,
+		    "Destination %s is not reachable directly and "
+		    "all routehints were unusable.",
+		    type_to_string(tmpctx, struct node_id, p->destination));
+		return command_still_pending(cmd);
 	}
 
 	routehint_pre_getroute(d, p);
diff --git a/tests/test_pay.py b/tests/test_pay.py
index 2eefce385..6dfd92b4e 100644
--- a/tests/test_pay.py
+++ b/tests/test_pay.py
@@ -1723,7 +1723,7 @@ def test_pay_routeboost(node_factory, bitcoind, compat):
     l3, l4, l5 = node_factory.line_graph(3, announce_channels=False, wait_for_announce=False)
 
     # This should a "could not find a route" because that's true.
-    error = r'Ran out of routes'
+    error = r'Destination [a-f0-9]{66} is not reachable directly and all routehints were unusable'
 
     with pytest.raises(RpcError, match=error):
         l1.rpc.pay(l5.rpc.invoice(10**8, 'test_retry', 'test_retry')['bolt11'])
@@ -4219,10 +4219,15 @@ def test_unreachable_routehint(node_factory, bitcoind):
     l2.connect(l3)
     wait_for(lambda: len(l1.rpc.listnodes(entrypoint)['nodes']) == 1)
 
-    with pytest.raises(RpcError):
+    with pytest.raises(RpcError, match=r'Destination [a-f0-9]{66} is not reachable') as excinfo:
         l1.rpc.pay(invoice)
     assert(l1.daemon.is_in_log(
         r"Removed routehint 0 because entrypoint {entrypoint} is unreachable.".format(
             entrypoint=entrypoint
         )
     ))
+
+    # Since we aborted once we realized the destination is unreachable
+    # both directly, and via the routehints we should now just have a
+    # single attempt.
+    assert(len(excinfo.value.error['attempts']) == 1)