diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 5551dfa..a69d39e 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # CHANGES IN xfun VERSION 0.32
 
+- Fixed the issue that `xfun::base_pkgs()` could hang R (thanks, @mmaechler, #66).
 
 # CHANGES IN xfun VERSION 0.31
 
diff --git a/R/packages.R b/R/packages.R
index df27af6..356ce2e 100644
--- a/R/packages.R
+++ b/R/packages.R
@@ -344,7 +344,7 @@ news2md = function(package, ..., output = 'NEWS.md', category = TRUE) {
 #' @export
 #' @examplesIf interactive()
 #' xfun::base_pkgs()
-base_pkgs = function() rownames(installed.packages(priority = 'base'))
+base_pkgs = function() rownames(installed.packages(.Library, priority = 'base'))
 
 # update one package (from source by default)
 pkg_update_one = function(pkg, type = 'source') {