diff --git a/elements/package-installs/bin/package-installs b/elements/package-installs/bin/package-installs
index 74eca24a..c699369a 100755
--- a/elements/package-installs/bin/package-installs
+++ b/elements/package-installs/bin/package-installs
@@ -62,4 +62,6 @@ for PACKAGEFILE in $(find $WORKDIR -maxdepth 1 -name "package-installs-*" ); do
     done < $PACKAGEFILE
 done
 
-install-packages $PACKAGES
+if [ -n "$PACKAGES" ]; then
+    install-packages $PACKAGES
+fi