diff --git a/shake-ats.cabal b/shake-ats.cabal
--- a/shake-ats.cabal
+++ b/shake-ats.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name:                shake-ats
-version:             1.3.0.3
+version:             1.3.0.4
 synopsis:            Utilities for building ATS projects with shake
 description:         Various helper functions for building [ATS](http://www.ats-lang.org/) with the [shake](http://shakebuild.com/) library
 homepage:            https://github.com/vmchale/shake-ats#readme
diff --git a/src/Development/Shake/ATS.hs b/src/Development/Shake/ATS.hs
--- a/src/Development/Shake/ATS.hs
+++ b/src/Development/Shake/ATS.hs
@@ -97,7 +97,9 @@
     gcFlag' = bool ("-optc" <>) id noHs $ gcFlag b
     hsExtra = bool (["--make", "-odir", ".atspkg", "-no-hs-main", "-package-db", "~/.cabal/store/ghc-" ++ ghcV ++ "/package.db/"] ++ packageDbs) mempty noHs
     noHs = null fc
-    packageDbs = (\x -> ["-package-db", x ++ "/dist-newstyle/packagedb/ghc-" ++ ghcV]) =<< libToDirs fc
+    packageDbs = case fc of
+        [] -> []
+        _  -> (\x -> ["-package-db", x ++ "/dist-newstyle/packagedb/ghc-" ++ ghcV]) =<< libToDirs fc
 
 libToDirs :: [ForeignCabal] -> [String]
 libToDirs = fmap (takeDirectory . TL.unpack . cabalFile)