Prior to V5 the strNoRows (pq-grid-norows div) would be displayed if there were no visible rows. In v5+ it is only displayed if the grid contains no rows.
Prior to v5:
if (v.empty(), 0 === o.totalVisibleRows) v.append("<div class='" + c + " pq-grid-norows' >" + a.strNoRows + "</div>");
v5+:
data = that.pdata || [];
$ele.find(".pq-grid-norows").css("display", data.length ? "none" : "");
The original behavior I believe is correct since from the user standpoint there are no rows visible so it makes sense to display the strNoRows message.