diff --git a/tests/functional/dependencies/test_local_dependency.py b/tests/functional/dependencies/test_local_dependency.py
index 04391e0c872..85c0fd99fe6 100644
--- a/tests/functional/dependencies/test_local_dependency.py
+++ b/tests/functional/dependencies/test_local_dependency.py
@@ -353,3 +353,15 @@ def test_local_dependency_same_name_sneaky(self, prepare_dependencies, project):
 
         # needed to avoid compilation errors from duplicate package names in test autocleanup
         run_dbt(["clean"])
+
+
+class TestEmptyDependency:
+    @pytest.fixture(scope="class")
+    def packages(self):
+        return {"packages": [{"local": ""}]}
+
+    def test_local_dependency_empty(self, project):
+        with pytest.raises(
+            dbt.exceptions.DbtProjectError, match="A local package is missing the value"
+        ):
+            run_dbt(["deps"])