diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/dd4hep/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/dd4hep/package.py
index 77c3934bdff..a9ca9fe12dc 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/dd4hep/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/dd4hep/package.py
@@ -254,7 +254,8 @@ def setup_run_environment(self, env):
         env.set("DD4HEP", self.prefix.examples)
         env.set("DD4hep_DIR", self.prefix)
         env.set("DD4hep_ROOT", self.prefix)
-        env.prepend_path("LD_LIBRARY_PATH", self.libs.directories[0])
+        if len(self.libs.directories) > 0:
+            env.prepend_path("LD_LIBRARY_PATH", self.libs.directories[0])
 
     def url_for_version(self, version):
         # dd4hep releases are dashes and padded with a leading zero