diff --git a/lib/workers/dep-type/index.js b/lib/workers/dep-type/index.js
index d4c1e139c2a825a0253fcc1de5437bb0cf751c07..6cd5b70fc14888eedd94ace7dc327e43301b6536 100644
--- a/lib/workers/dep-type/index.js
+++ b/lib/workers/dep-type/index.js
@@ -87,7 +87,9 @@ function getDepConfig(depTypeConfig, dep) {
       } else if (packageRule.packagePatterns) {
         for (const packagePattern of packageRule.packagePatterns) {
           const packageRegex = new RegExp(
-            packagePattern === '*' ? '.*' : packagePattern
+            packagePattern === '^*$' || packagePattern === '*'
+              ? '.*'
+              : packagePattern
           );
           if (depConfig.depName.match(packageRegex)) {
             applyRule = true;