diff --git a/generators/ide-iml-to-gradle-generator/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/generators/imltogradle/Main.kt b/generators/ide-iml-to-gradle-generator/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/generators/imltogradle/Main.kt
index 7d34900a37b..496907ac4c3 100644
--- a/generators/ide-iml-to-gradle-generator/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/generators/imltogradle/Main.kt
+++ b/generators/ide-iml-to-gradle-generator/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/generators/imltogradle/Main.kt
@@ -211,6 +211,13 @@ fun convertJpsModule(imlFile: File, jpsModule: JpsModule): String {
         ?.joinToString { "\"$it\"" }
         ?: ""
 
+    val testsJar =
+        if (jpsModule.sourceRoots.any { it.rootType.isForTests }) "testsJar()"
+        else """
+            // Fake empty configuration in order to make `DependencyHandler.projectTests(name: String)` work
+            configurations.getOrCreate("tests-jar")
+        """.trimIndent()
+
     val deps = jpsModule.dependencies.flatMap { convertJpsDependencyElement(it) }
         .distinctBy { it.normalizedForComparison() }
         .joinToString("\n") { it.convertToGradleCall() }
@@ -258,6 +265,6 @@ fun convertJpsModule(imlFile: File, jpsModule: JpsModule): String {
         |    kotlinOptions.useOldBackend = true // KT-45697
         |}
         |
-        |testsJar()
+        |$testsJar
     """.trimMarginWithInterpolations()
 }