diff --git a/lib/config/massage.js b/lib/config/massage.js
index 4435723192db5bd5b92eaf80c248d5eeb93da580..d0d7ec46e7b89033c21c6135a8ecc9e5975fb031 100644
--- a/lib/config/massage.js
+++ b/lib/config/massage.js
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ function massageConfig(config) {
       massagedConfig[key] = massageConfig(val);
     }
   }
-  if (massagedConfig.packageRules) {
+  if (is.nonEmptyArray(massagedConfig.packageRules)) {
     const newRules = [];
     const updateTypes = [
       'major',