diff --git a/packagecontrol.py b/packagecontrol.py
index 177b466..02a28a1 100644
--- a/packagecontrol.py
+++ b/packagecontrol.py
@@ -459,6 +459,9 @@ def _get_available_packages(self, force=False):
 
                 self._available_packages = []
                 for json_package in repo["packages"]:
+                    if not json_package["name"]:
+                        self.warn("empty package encountered in repo, skipping", json_package)
+                        continue
                     self._available_packages.append(Package(json_package["name"],
                                                             json_package["version"],
                                                             json_package["description"],