diff --git a/node-deb b/node-deb
index 92025ae..d4523bd 100755
--- a/node-deb
+++ b/node-deb
@@ -444,7 +444,7 @@ log_debug "The package maintainer has been set to: $package_maintainer"
 
 # Set the package dependencies
 if [ -z "$package_dependencies" ]; then
-  package_dependencies=$(jq -r '.node_deb.dependencies' package.json)
+  package_dependencies=$(jq -r '.node_deb.dependencies | if type == "string" then . else . | join(", ") end' package.json)
   default_package_dependencies="nodejs, sudo"
   if [[ "$package_dependencies" != 'null' ]]; then
     default_package_dependencies="${default_package_dependencies}, "