diff --git a/pkg/lockfile/fixtures/pnpm/empty.yaml b/pkg/lockfile/fixtures/pnpm/empty.yaml
index 338e41acb9..809b4b2884 100644
--- a/pkg/lockfile/fixtures/pnpm/empty.yaml
+++ b/pkg/lockfile/fixtures/pnpm/empty.yaml
@@ -1,7 +1 @@
-lockfileVersion: 5.3
-
-specifiers:
-
-dependencies:
-
-packages:
+# this is an empty file!
diff --git a/pkg/lockfile/fixtures/pnpm/no-packages.yaml b/pkg/lockfile/fixtures/pnpm/no-packages.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..338e41acb9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/lockfile/fixtures/pnpm/no-packages.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+lockfileVersion: 5.3
+
+specifiers:
+
+dependencies:
+
+packages:
diff --git a/pkg/lockfile/parse-pnpm-lock.go b/pkg/lockfile/parse-pnpm-lock.go
index 4e3679463c..75c3aa2f8f 100644
--- a/pkg/lockfile/parse-pnpm-lock.go
+++ b/pkg/lockfile/parse-pnpm-lock.go
@@ -177,5 +177,10 @@ func ParsePnpmLock(pathToLockfile string) ([]PackageDetails, error) {
 		return []PackageDetails{}, fmt.Errorf("could not parse %s: %w", pathToLockfile, err)
 	}
 
+	// this will happen if the file is empty
+	if parsedLockfile == nil {
+		parsedLockfile = &PnpmLockfile{}
+	}
+
 	return parsePnpmLock(*parsedLockfile), nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/lockfile/parse-pnpm-lock_test.go b/pkg/lockfile/parse-pnpm-lock_test.go
index 72638f449d..05b379d240 100644
--- a/pkg/lockfile/parse-pnpm-lock_test.go
+++ b/pkg/lockfile/parse-pnpm-lock_test.go
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ func TestParsePnpmLock_InvalidYaml(t *testing.T) {
 	expectPackages(t, packages, []lockfile.PackageDetails{})
 }
 
-func TestParsePnpmLock_NoPackages(t *testing.T) {
+func TestParsePnpmLock_Empty(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 
 	packages, err := lockfile.ParsePnpmLock("fixtures/pnpm/empty.yaml")
@@ -35,6 +35,18 @@ func TestParsePnpmLock_NoPackages(t *testing.T) {
 	expectPackages(t, packages, []lockfile.PackageDetails{})
 }
 
+func TestParsePnpmLock_NoPackages(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	packages, err := lockfile.ParsePnpmLock("fixtures/pnpm/no-packages.yaml")
+
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("Got unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	expectPackages(t, packages, []lockfile.PackageDetails{})
+}
+
 func TestParsePnpmLock_OnePackage(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()