diff --git a/osc/core.py b/osc/core.py
index 6ace1666..2a5dff5c 100644
--- a/osc/core.py
+++ b/osc/core.py
@@ -4371,8 +4371,10 @@ def read_meta_from_spec(specfile, *args):
     section_pat = r'^%s\s*?$'
     for section in sections:
         m = re.compile(section_pat % section, re.I | re.M).search(''.join(lines))
-        if m:
-            start = lines.index(m.group() + '\n') + 1
+        if m is None:
+            spec_data[section] = ""
+            continue
+        start = lines.index(m.group() + '\n') + 1
         data = []
         for line in lines[start:]:
             if line.startswith('%'):