diff --git a/lib/plugins/esbuild/index.js b/lib/plugins/esbuild/index.js
index 91a4845e8..3aa35cade 100644
--- a/lib/plugins/esbuild/index.js
+++ b/lib/plugins/esbuild/index.js
@@ -895,7 +895,7 @@ class Esbuild {
     const buildProperties = await this._buildProperties()
 
     if (packageJson.dependencies) {
-      if (buildProperties.packages && buildProperties.packages !== 'external') {
+      if (buildProperties.packages !== 'external') {
         packageJsonNoDevDeps.dependencies = {}
         for (const key of external) {
           if (packageJson.dependencies[key]) {