1 files changed, 2 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/meta/lib/oe/package_manager.py b/meta/lib/oe/package_manager.py
index 3aff9d89c6..1c64205330 100644
--- a/meta/lib/oe/package_manager.py
+++ b/meta/lib/oe/package_manager.py
@@ -1644,7 +1644,8 @@ class DpkgPM(PackageManager):
 
                 priority += 5
 
-            for pkg in self.d.getVar('PACKAGE_EXCLUDE', True).split():
+            pkg_exclude = self.d.getVar('PACKAGE_EXCLUDE', True) or ""
+            for pkg in pkg_exclude:
                 prefs_file.write(
                     "Package: %s\n"
                     "Pin: release *\n"