diff --git a/lib/bb/utils.py b/lib/bb/utils.py
index 8b8d381faa5..92b60b39d2c 100644
--- a/lib/bb/utils.py
+++ b/lib/bb/utils.py
@@ -529,6 +529,9 @@ def lockfile(name, shared=False, retry=True, block=False):
 
     Returns the locked file descriptor in case of success, ``None`` otherwise.
     """
+    if not name:
+        return None
+
     basename = os.path.basename(name)
     if len(basename) > 255:
         root, ext = os.path.splitext(basename)
@@ -594,6 +597,9 @@ def unlockfile(lf):
 
     No return value.
     """
+    if not lf:
+        return
+
     try:
         # If we had a shared lock, we need to promote to exclusive before
         # removing the lockfile. Attempt this, ignore failures.