diff --git a/packages/core/package.json b/packages/core/package.json
index 2118ba32..609c0602 100644
--- a/packages/core/package.json
+++ b/packages/core/package.json
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@
     "make-dir": "^3.1.0",
     "minimatch": "^5.1.0",
     "node-fetch": "^2.6.7",
-    "npm-package-arg": "^9.1.2",
+    "npm-package-arg": "^10.0.0",
     "npmlog": "^7.0.1",
     "p-map": "^4.0.0",
     "p-queue": "^6.6.2",
diff --git a/packages/core/src/package.ts b/packages/core/src/package.ts
index d300168e..c78ccff3 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/package.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/package.ts
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ export class Package {
         /^(workspace:)+(.*)$/.test(workspaceSpec)
       ) {
         if (workspaceSpec) {
-          if (resolved.fetchSpec === 'latest') {
+          if (resolved.fetchSpec === 'latest' || resolved.fetchSpec === '') {
             npmlog.error(
               `publish`,
               [
diff --git a/packages/publish/package.json b/packages/publish/package.json
index fa269154..57680bcc 100644
--- a/packages/publish/package.json
+++ b/packages/publish/package.json
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@
     "has-unicode": "^2.0.1",
     "libnpmaccess": "^6.0.4",
     "libnpmpublish": "^7.0.0",
-    "npm-package-arg": "^9.1.2",
+    "npm-package-arg": "^10.0.0",
     "npm-packlist": "^7.0.1",
     "npm-registry-fetch": "^14.0.2",
     "npmlog": "^7.0.1",
diff --git a/packages/publish/src/__tests__/publish-workspace-protocol-specifiers.spec.ts b/packages/publish/src/__tests__/publish-workspace-protocol-specifiers.spec.ts
index 5c8dc873..8871c2d5 100644
--- a/packages/publish/src/__tests__/publish-workspace-protocol-specifiers.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/publish/src/__tests__/publish-workspace-protocol-specifiers.spec.ts
@@ -279,12 +279,12 @@ describe("workspace protocol 'workspace:' specifiers", () => {
         'publish',
         [
           `Your package named "package-6" has external dependencies not handled by Lerna-Lite and without workspace version suffix, `,
-          `we recommend using defined versions with workspace protocol. Your dependency is currently being published with "tiny-registry": "latest".`,
+          `we recommend using defined versions with workspace protocol. Your dependency is currently being published with "tiny-registry": "".`,
         ].join('')
       );
       expect((writePkg as any).updatedManifest('package-6').dependencies).toMatchObject({
         'package-1': '>=1.0.0', // workspace:>=1.0.0 will not be bumped without a flag
-        'tiny-registry': 'latest', // workspace:*
+        'tiny-registry': '', // workspace:*
         'tiny-tarball': '^2.3.4', // workspace:^2.3.4
       });
     });
diff --git a/pnpm-lock.yaml b/pnpm-lock.yaml
index 23736675..d28c93cc 100644
--- a/pnpm-lock.yaml
+++ b/pnpm-lock.yaml
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ importers:
       make-dir: ^3.1.0
       minimatch: ^5.1.0
       node-fetch: ^2.6.7
-      npm-package-arg: ^9.1.2
+      npm-package-arg: ^10.0.0
       npm-registry-fetch: ^14.0.2
       npmlog: ^7.0.1
       p-map: ^4.0.0
@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@ importers:
       make-dir: 3.1.0
       minimatch: 5.1.0
       node-fetch: 2.6.7
-      npm-package-arg: 9.1.2
+      npm-package-arg: 10.0.0
       npmlog: 7.0.1
       p-map: 4.0.0
       p-queue: 6.6.2
@@ -434,7 +434,7 @@ importers:
       libnpmaccess: ^6.0.4
       libnpmpublish: ^7.0.0
       load-json-file: ^6.2.0
-      npm-package-arg: ^9.1.2
+      npm-package-arg: ^10.0.0
       npm-packlist: ^7.0.1
       npm-registry-fetch: ^14.0.2
       npmlog: ^7.0.1
@@ -461,7 +461,7 @@ importers:
       has-unicode: 2.0.1
       libnpmaccess: 6.0.4
       libnpmpublish: 7.0.0
-      npm-package-arg: 9.1.2
+      npm-package-arg: 10.0.0
       npm-packlist: 7.0.1
       npm-registry-fetch: 14.0.2
       npmlog: 7.0.1
@@ -2649,7 +2649,7 @@ packages:
     dev: false
 
   /concat-map/0.0.1:
-    resolution: {integrity: sha512-/Srv4dswyQNBfohGpz9o6Yb3Gz3SrUDqBH5rTuhGR7ahtlbYKnVxw2bCFMRljaA7EXHaXZ8wsHdodFvbkhKmqg==}
+    resolution: {integrity: sha1-2Klr13/Wjfd5OnMDajug1UBdR3s=}
 
   /concat-stream/2.0.0:
     resolution: {integrity: sha512-MWufYdFw53ccGjCA+Ol7XJYpAlW6/prSMzuPOTRnJGcGzuhLn4Scrz7qf6o8bROZ514ltazcIFJZevcfbo0x7A==}