diff --git a/em_multistrap b/em_multistrap
index 4c4a426..2e0c587 100755
--- a/em_multistrap
+++ b/em_multistrap
@@ -326,14 +326,21 @@ if (-l "${dir}lib64" ) {
 }
 exit 0;
 
+# lenny grip-config misses gcc-4.2-base, needs:
+# touch /usr/share/doc/gcc-4.2-base/.changelog.Debian.gz
+# touch /usr/share/doc/gcc-4.2-base/.changelog.Debian.gz
+
 sub add_extra_packages
 {
 	$str = join (' ', @extrapkgs);
-	print "apt-get -y $config_str install $str\n";
-	$retval = system ("apt-get -y $config_str install $str");
-	&force_unpack (@extrapkgs) if ($unpack eq "true");
-	system ("touch ${dir}${libdir}lists/lock");
-	&native if (not defined ($foreign));
+	if (@extrapkgs)
+	{
+		print "apt-get -y $config_str install $str\n";
+		$retval = system ("apt-get -y $config_str install $str");
+		&force_unpack (@extrapkgs) if ($unpack eq "true");
+		system ("touch ${dir}${libdir}lists/lock");
+		&native if (not defined ($foreign));
+	}
 }
 
 sub force_unpack