diff --git a/lib/unbuild.js b/lib/unbuild.js
index d527778e92b07..716b9d1931196 100644
--- a/lib/unbuild.js
+++ b/lib/unbuild.js
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ function rmStuff (pkg, folder, cb) {
   // if it's global, and folder is in {prefix}/node_modules,
   // then bins are in {prefix}/bin
   // otherwise, then bins are in folder/../.bin
-  var parent = pkg.name[0] === '@' ? path.dirname(path.dirname(folder)) : path.dirname(folder)
+  var parent = pkg.name && pkg.name[0] === '@' ? path.dirname(path.dirname(folder)) : path.dirname(folder)
   var gnm = npm.dir
   // gnm might be an absolute path, parent might be relative
   // this checks they're the same directory regardless