diff --git a/classes/native.bbclass b/classes/native.bbclass
index 1e7a6ec..6f30471 100644
--- a/classes/native.bbclass
+++ b/classes/native.bbclass
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ 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)
+        depends = bb.data.getVar("DEPENDS_virtclass-native", d, True) or ""
         deps = bb.utils.explode_deps(depends)
         newdeps = []
         for dep in deps:
diff --git a/classes/nativesdk.bbclass b/classes/nativesdk.bbclass
index 6689399..6607abf 100644
--- a/classes/nativesdk.bbclass
+++ b/classes/nativesdk.bbclass
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ OVERRIDES =. "virtclass-nativesdk:"
 
 python __anonymous () {
     pn = bb.data.getVar("PN", d, True)
-    depends = bb.data.getVar("DEPENDS_virtclass-nativesdk", d, True)
+    depends = bb.data.getVar("DEPENDS_virtclass-nativesdk", d, True) or ""
     deps = bb.utils.explode_deps(depends)
     newdeps = []
     for dep in deps: