diff --git a/checkdeps.py b/checkdeps.py
index c0e10051..03782037 100755
--- a/checkdeps.py
+++ b/checkdeps.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ try:
     from setup import EXTRAS_REQUIRE
 except ImportError:
     HAVE_SETUPTOOLS = False
-    EXTRAS_REQUIRE = []
+    EXTRAS_REQUIRE = {}
 
 from importlib import import_module