diff --git a/autosklearn/automl.py b/autosklearn/automl.py
index d8c624d06a..94d8f489d1 100644
--- a/autosklearn/automl.py
+++ b/autosklearn/automl.py
@@ -1396,6 +1396,10 @@ def predict(self, X, batch_size=None, n_jobs=1):
                 "Predict is currently not implemented for resampling "
                 f"strategy {self._resampling_strategy}, please call refit()."
             )
+        elif self._disable_evaluator_output is not False:
+            raise NotImplementedError(
+                "Predict cannot be called when evaluator output is disabled."
+            )
 
         if self.models_ is None or len(self.models_) == 0 or self.ensemble_ is None:
             self._load_models()
@@ -1553,11 +1557,31 @@ def _load_models(self):
         else:
             self.ensemble_ = None
 
-        # If no ensemble is loaded, try to get the best performing model
-        if not self.ensemble_:
+        # If no ensemble is loaded, try to get the best performing model.
+        # This is triggered if
+        # 1. self._ensemble_size == 0 (see if-statement above)
+        # 2. if the ensemble builder crashed and no ensemble is available
+        # 3. if the ensemble cannot be built because of arguments passed
+        #    by the user (disable_evaluator_output and
+        #    resampling_strategy)
+        if (
+            not self.ensemble_
+            and not (
+                self._disable_evaluator_output is True
+                or (
+                    isinstance(self._disable_evaluator_output, list)
+                    and "model" in self._disable_evaluator_output
+                )
+            )
+            and self._resampling_strategy
+            not in (
+                "partial-cv",
+                "partial-cv-iterative-fit",
+            )
+        ):
             self.ensemble_ = self._load_best_individual_model()
 
-        if self.ensemble_:
+        if self.ensemble_ is not None:
             identifiers = self.ensemble_.get_selected_model_identifiers()
             self.models_ = self._backend.load_models_by_identifiers(identifiers)
 
@@ -1567,39 +1591,9 @@ def _load_models(self):
                 )
             else:
                 self.cv_models_ = None
-
-            if len(self.models_) == 0 and self._resampling_strategy not in [
-                "partial-cv",
-                "partial-cv-iterative-fit",
-            ]:
-                raise ValueError("No models fitted!")
-
-            if (
-                self._resampling_strategy in ["cv", "cv-iterative-fit"]
-                and len(self.cv_models_) == 0
-            ):
-                raise ValueError("No models fitted!")
-
-        elif self._disable_evaluator_output is False or (
-            isinstance(self._disable_evaluator_output, list)
-            and "model" not in self._disable_evaluator_output
-        ):
-            model_names = self._backend.list_all_models(self._seed)
-
-            if len(model_names) == 0 and self._resampling_strategy not in [
-                "partial-cv",
-                "partial-cv-iterative-fit",
-            ]:
-                raise ValueError("No models fitted!")
-
-            self.ensemble_ = None
-            self.models_ = []
-            self.cv_models_ = None
-
         else:
-            self.ensemble_ = None
             self.models_ = []
-            self.cv_models_ = None
+            self.cv_models_ = []
 
     def _load_best_individual_model(self):
         """
@@ -1608,11 +1602,11 @@ def _load_best_individual_model(self):
         by AutoML.
         This is a robust mechanism to be able to predict,
         even though no ensemble was found by ensemble builder.
+        It is also used to load the single best model in case
+        the user does not want to build an ensemble.
         """
         # We also require that the model is fit and a task is defined
-        # The ensemble size must also be greater than 1, else it means
-        # that the user intentionally does not want an ensemble
-        if not self._task or self._ensemble_size < 1:
+        if not self._task:
             return None
 
         # SingleBest contains the best model found by AutoML
diff --git a/autosklearn/estimators.py b/autosklearn/estimators.py
index 1c283e06e6..5e891b0a8e 100644
--- a/autosklearn/estimators.py
+++ b/autosklearn/estimators.py
@@ -79,7 +79,8 @@ def __init__(
         ensemble_size : int, optional (default=50)
             Number of models added to the ensemble built by *Ensemble
             selection from libraries of models*. Models are drawn with
-            replacement. If set to ``0`` no ensemble is fit.
+            replacement. If set to ``0`` no ensemble is fit and the single
+            best model is loaded.
 
         ensemble_nbest : int, optional (default=50)
             Only consider the ``ensemble_nbest`` models when building an
@@ -526,9 +527,6 @@ def fit_ensemble(
         All parameters are ``None`` by default. If no other value is given,
         the default values which were set in a call to ``fit()`` are used.
 
-        Calling this function is only necessary if ``ensemble_size==0``, for
-        example when executing *auto-sklearn* in parallel.
-
         Parameters
         ----------
         y : array-like
diff --git a/test/test_automl/test_post_fit.py b/test/test_automl/test_post_fit.py
index 7cc6dafb6e..ed7882d7b4 100644
--- a/test/test_automl/test_post_fit.py
+++ b/test/test_automl/test_post_fit.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 from autosklearn.automl import AutoML
+from autosklearn.ensembles.singlebest_ensemble import SingleBest
 
 from pytest_cases import parametrize_with_cases
 
@@ -59,10 +60,10 @@ def test_no_ensemble(automl: AutoML) -> None:
 
     Expects
     -------
-    * The ensemble should remain None
-    * The models_ should be empty
+    * Auto-sklearn loads a single best model
+    * The models_ should be of size 1
     * The cv_models_ should remain None
     """
-    assert automl.ensemble_ is None
-    assert automl.models_ == []
+    assert isinstance(automl.ensemble_, SingleBest)
+    assert len(automl.models_) == 1
     assert automl.cv_models_ is None