diff --git a/classes/native.bbclass b/classes/native.bbclass
index 1e7a6ec..e9d48a3 100644
--- a/classes/native.bbclass
+++ b/classes/native.bbclass
@@ -116,7 +116,10 @@ python __anonymous () {
     if "native" in (bb.data.getVar('BBCLASSEXTEND', d, True) or ""):
         pn = bb.data.getVar("PN", d, True)
         depends = bb.data.getVar("DEPENDS_virtclass-native", d, True)
-        deps = bb.utils.explode_deps(depends)
+        if depends:
+            deps = bb.utils.explode_deps(depends)
+        else:
+            deps = []
         newdeps = []
         for dep in deps:
             if dep.endswith("-cross"):
diff --git a/classes/nativesdk.bbclass b/classes/nativesdk.bbclass
index 6689399..7a8f385 100644
--- a/classes/nativesdk.bbclass
+++ b/classes/nativesdk.bbclass
@@ -59,7 +59,10 @@ OVERRIDES =. "virtclass-nativesdk:"
 python __anonymous () {
     pn = bb.data.getVar("PN", d, True)
     depends = bb.data.getVar("DEPENDS_virtclass-nativesdk", d, True)
-    deps = bb.utils.explode_deps(depends)
+    if depends:
+        deps = bb.utils.explode_deps(depends)
+    else:
+        deps = []
     newdeps = []
     for dep in deps:
         if dep.endswith("-native") or dep.endswith("-cross"):