diff --git a/lib/libalpm/filelist.c b/lib/libalpm/filelist.c
index 13990671..5d781235 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/filelist.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/filelist.c
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ alpm_file_t SYMEXPORT *alpm_filelist_contains(const alpm_filelist_t *filelist,
 {
 	alpm_file_t key;
 
-	if(!filelist) {
+	if(!filelist || filelist->count == 0) {
 		return NULL;
 	}