diff --git a/src/deploy-actions.js b/src/deploy-actions.js
index 8138eb6..08591b7 100644
--- a/src/deploy-actions.js
+++ b/src/deploy-actions.js
@@ -57,11 +57,24 @@ async function deployActions (config, deployConfig = {}, logFunc) {
   // checks
   // a. missing credentials
   utils.checkOpenWhiskCredentials(config)
-  // b. missing build files
+  // b. no packages declared (e.g. `packages: {}`, used only to trigger database
+  // auto-provisioning). Skip deployment entirely. Proceeding would run a full
+  // sync against an empty manifest, undeploying every previously-deployed entity
+  // for the project. Use `aio app undeploy` to intentionally remove all entities.
+  const packages = config.manifest.full.packages
+  if (Object.keys(packages).length === 0) {
+    log('Warning: no packages defined in the manifest, skipping deployment. Existing deployed entities are left untouched; use \'aio app undeploy\' to remove them.')
+    return {}
+  }
+
+  // c. missing build files — only required when at least one package defines actions
   const dist = config.actions.dist
+  const hasAnyActions = Object.values(packages)
+    .some(pkg => Object.keys(pkg.actions || {}).length > 0)
   if (
+    hasAnyActions &&
     (!deployConfig.filterEntities || deployConfig.filterEntities.actions) &&
-    (!fs.pathExistsSync(dist) || !fs.lstatSync(dist).isDirectory() || !fs.readdirSync(dist).length === 0)
+    (!fs.pathExistsSync(dist) || !fs.lstatSync(dist).isDirectory() || fs.readdirSync(dist).length === 0)
   ) {
     throw new Error(`missing files in ${utils._relApp(config.root, dist)}, maybe you forgot to build your actions ?`)
   }
diff --git a/src/utils.js b/src/utils.js
index ff978af..04e947f 100644
--- a/src/utils.js
+++ b/src/utils.js
@@ -2104,7 +2104,9 @@ function replacePackagePlaceHolder (config) {
     // Using custom package name.
     // Set config.ow.package so that syncProject can use it as project name for annotations.
     const packageNames = Object.keys(packages)
-    modifiedConfig.ow.package = packageNames[0]
+    if (packageNames.length > 0) {
+      modifiedConfig.ow.package = packageNames[0]
+    }
   }
   return modifiedConfig
 }
diff --git a/test/deploy.actions.test.js b/test/deploy.actions.test.js
index 2912fa9..3a55c66 100644
--- a/test/deploy.actions.test.js
+++ b/test/deploy.actions.test.js
@@ -577,12 +577,30 @@ test('Deploy actions should fail if there are no build files and action filter',
     .rejects.toThrow('missing files in dist')
 })
 
+test('Deploy actions should fail if the build directory exists but is empty', async () => {
+  addSampleAppFiles()
+  // dist exists as a directory but contains no built actions
+  global.fakeFileSystem.addJson({ [global.sampleAppConfig.actions.dist]: null })
+  await expect(deployActions(global.sampleAppConfig))
+    .rejects.toThrow('missing files in dist')
+})
+
 test('Deploy actions should pass if there are no build files and filter does not include actions', async () => {
   addSampleAppFiles()
   runtimeLibUtils.processPackage.mockReturnValue({})
   await expect(deployActions(global.sampleAppConfig, { filterEntities: { triggers: ['trigger1'] } })).resolves.toEqual({})
 })
 
+test('Deploy actions should be a no-op (no undeploy) and warn when packages: {} (empty packages)', async () => {
+  const emptyPackagesConfig = deepCopy(global.sampleAppConfig)
+  emptyPackagesConfig.manifest.full.packages = {}
+  const logSpy = jest.fn()
+  await expect(deployActions(emptyPackagesConfig, {}, logSpy)).resolves.toEqual({})
+  expect(logSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.stringContaining('no packages defined'))
+  // must not run a full sync that would undeploy previously-deployed entities
+  expect(runtimeLibUtils.syncProject).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+})
+
 // lonely
 test('if actions are deployed and part of the manifest it should return their url', async () => {
   addSampleAppReducedFiles()
diff --git a/test/utils.test.js b/test/utils.test.js
index 7a36de3..6be08f3 100644
--- a/test/utils.test.js
+++ b/test/utils.test.js
@@ -3097,3 +3097,43 @@ describe('loadIMSCredentialsFromEnv', () => {
     expect(result.scopes).toBe('not json')
   })
 })
+
+describe('replacePackagePlaceHolder', () => {
+  test('leaves ow.package unchanged when packages is empty (packages: {})', () => {
+    const config = {
+      ow: { package: 'my-pkg' },
+      manifest: {
+        packagePlaceholder: '__APP_PACKAGE__',
+        full: { packages: {} }
+      }
+    }
+    const result = utils.replacePackagePlaceHolder(config)
+    expect(result.ow.package).toBe('my-pkg')
+  })
+
+  test('renames placeholder package to ow.package', () => {
+    const config = {
+      ow: { package: 'my-pkg' },
+      manifest: {
+        packagePlaceholder: '__APP_PACKAGE__',
+        full: { packages: { __APP_PACKAGE__: { actions: {} } } }
+      }
+    }
+    const result = utils.replacePackagePlaceHolder(config)
+    expect(result.ow.package).toBe('my-pkg')
+    expect(result.manifest.full.packages['my-pkg']).toBeDefined()
+    expect(result.manifest.full.packages.__APP_PACKAGE__).toBeUndefined()
+  })
+
+  test('sets ow.package to first package name when no placeholder matches', () => {
+    const config = {
+      ow: { package: 'ignored' },
+      manifest: {
+        packagePlaceholder: '__APP_PACKAGE__',
+        full: { packages: { 'custom-pkg': { actions: {} } } }
+      }
+    }
+    const result = utils.replacePackagePlaceHolder(config)
+    expect(result.ow.package).toBe('custom-pkg')
+  })
+})