diff --git a/cmd/cheatmd/compose.go b/cmd/cheatmd/compose.go
index 1a579ae..2a65694 100644
--- a/cmd/cheatmd/compose.go
+++ b/cmd/cheatmd/compose.go
@@ -118,13 +118,11 @@ func buildComposeMarkdown(name, desc, command string) string {
 	sb.WriteString(command)
 	sb.WriteString("\n```\n")
 
-	if len(vars) > 0 {
-		sb.WriteString("<!-- cheat\n")
-		for _, v := range vars {
-			sb.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("var %s\n", v))
-		}
-		sb.WriteString("-->\n")
+	sb.WriteString("<!-- cheat\n")
+	for _, v := range vars {
+		sb.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("var %s\n", v))
 	}
+	sb.WriteString("-->\n")
 
 	return sb.String()
 }
diff --git a/cmd/cheatmd/compose_marker_test.go b/cmd/cheatmd/compose_marker_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f14f20a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/cheatmd/compose_marker_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/cheatmd-dev/cheatmd/pkg/parser"
+)
+
+func TestComposedCommandWithoutVariablesIsExecutable(t *testing.T) {
+	path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "composed.md")
+	content := buildComposeMarkdown("Greeting", "", "echo hello")
+	if err := os.WriteFile(path, []byte(content), 0o600); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	index, err := parser.NewParser().ParseSingleFile(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	cheats := index.FilterByConfig(true)
+	if len(cheats) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("got %d executable cheats, want one", len(cheats))
+	}
+	if cheats[0].Command != "echo hello" {
+		t.Fatalf("got command %q, want echo hello", cheats[0].Command)
+	}
+}