diff --git a/lib/workers/repository/updates/flatten.js b/lib/workers/repository/updates/flatten.js
index 7749d876edaefdbc63d258ec7c769915bffa96d0..e7cbbfc25954f9756fd075caf691d065eae6a5b6 100644
--- a/lib/workers/repository/updates/flatten.js
+++ b/lib/workers/repository/updates/flatten.js
@@ -17,28 +17,30 @@ function flattenUpdates(config, packageFiles) {
     for (const packageFile of files) {
       const packageFileConfig = mergeChildConfig(managerConfig, packageFile);
       for (const dep of packageFile.deps) {
-        let depConfig = mergeChildConfig(packageFileConfig, dep);
-        delete depConfig.deps;
-        depConfig = applyPackageRules(depConfig);
-        for (const update of dep.updates) {
-          let updateConfig = mergeChildConfig(depConfig, update);
-          delete updateConfig.updates;
-          // apply major/minor/patch/pin/digest
-          updateConfig = mergeChildConfig(
-            updateConfig,
-            updateConfig[updateConfig.type]
-          );
-          updateConfig.depNameSanitized = updateConfig.depName
-            ? updateConfig.depName
-                .replace('@types/', '')
-                .replace('@', '')
-                .replace('/', '-')
-                .replace(/\s+/g, '-')
-                .toLowerCase()
-            : undefined;
-          delete updateConfig.repoIsOnboarded;
-          delete updateConfig.renovateJsonPresent;
-          updates.push(updateConfig);
+        if (dep.updates.length) {
+          let depConfig = mergeChildConfig(packageFileConfig, dep);
+          delete depConfig.deps;
+          depConfig = applyPackageRules(depConfig);
+          for (const update of dep.updates) {
+            let updateConfig = mergeChildConfig(depConfig, update);
+            delete updateConfig.updates;
+            // apply major/minor/patch/pin/digest
+            updateConfig = mergeChildConfig(
+              updateConfig,
+              updateConfig[updateConfig.type]
+            );
+            updateConfig.depNameSanitized = updateConfig.depName
+              ? updateConfig.depName
+                  .replace('@types/', '')
+                  .replace('@', '')
+                  .replace('/', '-')
+                  .replace(/\s+/g, '-')
+                  .toLowerCase()
+              : undefined;
+            delete updateConfig.repoIsOnboarded;
+            delete updateConfig.renovateJsonPresent;
+            updates.push(updateConfig);
+          }
         }
       }
     }