diff --git a/abuild.in b/abuild.in
index 2ec401a..7f31dbe 100644
--- a/abuild.in
+++ b/abuild.in
@@ -1838,6 +1838,10 @@ parse_aports_makedepends() {
 		for j in $pkgname $subpackages; do
 			echo "o ${j%%:*} $dir"
 			set -- $deps
+			if [ $# -eq 0 ]; then
+				echo "d ${j%%:*}"
+				continue
+			fi
 			echo -n "d ${j%%:*} $1"
 			shift
 			while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do