diff --git a/local/scripts/rebuild-cascade.sh b/local/scripts/rebuild-cascade.sh
index 73f68d4395..dd16f1999b 100755
--- a/local/scripts/rebuild-cascade.sh
+++ b/local/scripts/rebuild-cascade.sh
@@ -146,6 +146,11 @@ find_reverse_deps() {
     local target="$1"
     local result=()
 
+    # Empty target would match every empty-deps entry — reject early.
+    if [ -z "${target}" ]; then
+        return 0
+    fi
+
     local pkg_name entry
     for pkg_name in "${!recipe_index[@]}"; do
         if [ "${pkg_name}" = "${target}" ]; then
@@ -159,7 +164,9 @@ find_reverse_deps() {
         fi
     done
 
-    printf '%s\n' "${result[@]}" | sort -u
+    if [ ${#result[@]} -gt 0 ]; then
+        printf '%s\n' "${result[@]}" | sort -u
+    fi
 }
 
 # Validate that the requested package names exist in the index