diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7cb3a108d9..74346e7a8a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,13 @@
 
 All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file. See [standard-version](https://github.com/conventional-changelog/standard-version) for commit guidelines.
 
+## [1.44.2](https://github.com/aws/jsii/compare/v1.44.1...v1.44.2) (2021-11-18)
+
+
+### Bug Fixes
+
+* **jsii:** require statement for the warning file is generated when it's not used ([#3184](https://github.com/aws/jsii/issues/3184)) ([8f53f89](https://github.com/aws/jsii/commit/8f53f897ebc03e3b3f9e5837fea988e7af592571))
+
 ## [1.44.1](https://github.com/aws/jsii/compare/v1.44.0...v1.44.1) (2021-11-16)
 
 * revert "fix: dependency submodules may not be discovered" ([#3170](https://github.com/aws/jsii/pull/3170)) ([0449dd9](https://github.com/aws/jsii/commit/0449dd92ce3297b065c171efafc28d1f877432cc))
diff --git a/lerna.json b/lerna.json
index 56890a91fe..4333be0c9b 100644
--- a/lerna.json
+++ b/lerna.json
@@ -10,5 +10,5 @@
       "rejectCycles": true
     }
   },
-  "version": "1.44.1"
+  "version": "1.44.2"
 }
diff --git a/packages/jsii/lib/transforms/deprecation-warnings.ts b/packages/jsii/lib/transforms/deprecation-warnings.ts
index 253419d433..bee6bbc3a6 100644
--- a/packages/jsii/lib/transforms/deprecation-warnings.ts
+++ b/packages/jsii/lib/transforms/deprecation-warnings.ts
@@ -333,6 +333,8 @@ module.exports.DeprecationError = DeprecationError;
 }
 
 class Transformer {
+  private warningCallsWereInjected = false;
+
   public constructor(
     private readonly typeChecker: ts.TypeChecker,
     private readonly context: ts.TransformationContext,
@@ -342,9 +344,11 @@ class Transformer {
   ) {}
 
   public transform<T extends ts.Node>(node: T): T {
+    this.warningCallsWereInjected = false;
+
     const result = this.visitEachChild(node);
 
-    if (ts.isSourceFile(result)) {
+    if (ts.isSourceFile(result) && this.warningCallsWereInjected) {
       const importDir = path.relative(
         path.dirname(result.fileName),
         this.projectRoot,
@@ -368,6 +372,8 @@ class Transformer {
   private visitor<T extends ts.Node>(node: T): ts.VisitResult<T> {
     if (ts.isMethodDeclaration(node) && node.body != null) {
       const statements = this.getStatementsForDeclaration(node);
+      this.warningCallsWereInjected =
+        this.warningCallsWereInjected || statements.length > 0;
       return ts.updateMethod(
         node,
         node.decorators,
@@ -385,6 +391,8 @@ class Transformer {
       ) as any;
     } else if (ts.isGetAccessorDeclaration(node) && node.body != null) {
       const statements = this.getStatementsForDeclaration(node);
+      this.warningCallsWereInjected =
+        this.warningCallsWereInjected || statements.length > 0;
       return ts.updateGetAccessor(
         node,
         node.decorators,
@@ -399,6 +407,8 @@ class Transformer {
       ) as any;
     } else if (ts.isSetAccessorDeclaration(node) && node.body != null) {
       const statements = this.getStatementsForDeclaration(node);
+      this.warningCallsWereInjected =
+        this.warningCallsWereInjected || statements.length > 0;
       return ts.updateSetAccessor(
         node,
         node.decorators,
@@ -412,6 +422,8 @@ class Transformer {
       ) as any;
     } else if (ts.isConstructorDeclaration(node) && node.body != null) {
       const statements = this.getStatementsForDeclaration(node);
+      this.warningCallsWereInjected =
+        this.warningCallsWereInjected || statements.length > 0;
       return ts.updateConstructor(
         node,
         node.decorators,
diff --git a/packages/jsii/test/deprecation-warnings.test.ts b/packages/jsii/test/deprecation-warnings.test.ts
index ded6bfc61b..44fc829e6d 100644
--- a/packages/jsii/test/deprecation-warnings.test.ts
+++ b/packages/jsii/test/deprecation-warnings.test.ts
@@ -388,6 +388,26 @@ describe('Call injections', () => {
     );
   });
 
+  test('does not generate a require statement when no calls were injected', async () => {
+    const result = await compileJsiiForTest(
+      {
+        'index.ts': `export * from './some/folder/handler'`,
+        'some/folder/handler.ts': `
+          export function handler(event: any) { return event; }
+        `,
+      },
+      undefined /* callback */,
+      { addDeprecationWarnings: true },
+    );
+
+    const expectedPath = ['..', '..', '.warnings.jsii.js'].join('/');
+
+    const content = jsFile(result, 'some/folder/handler');
+    expect(content).not.toContain(
+      `const jsiiDeprecationWarnings = require("${expectedPath}")`,
+    );
+  });
+
   test('deprecated methods', async () => {
     const result = await compileJsiiForTest(
       `