diff --git a/apps/wing/fixtures/invalid6/lib.w b/apps/wing/fixtures/invalid6/lib.w
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e69de29bb2d
diff --git a/apps/wing/fixtures/invalid6/package.json b/apps/wing/fixtures/invalid6/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8ce3fa12dca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/wing/fixtures/invalid6/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+{
+  "name": "invalid6",
+  "version": "0.0.0",
+  "description": "description",
+  "author": "author",
+  "license": "MIT",
+  "files": [
+    "**/*.ts"
+  ],
+  "dependencies": {
+    "some-dependency": "^1.0.0"
+  }
+}
diff --git a/apps/wing/fixtures/invalid6/util.ts b/apps/wing/fixtures/invalid6/util.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..11dd2c2f1d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/wing/fixtures/invalid6/util.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+export function add(x: number, y: number): number {
+  return x + y;
+}
diff --git a/apps/wing/fixtures/valid1/package.json b/apps/wing/fixtures/valid1/package.json
index f9ac31ccc0d..f5beb574ad2 100644
--- a/apps/wing/fixtures/valid1/package.json
+++ b/apps/wing/fixtures/valid1/package.json
@@ -6,5 +6,6 @@
   "license": "MIT",
   "files": [
     "**/*.ts"
-  ]
+  ],
+  "dependencies": {}
 }
diff --git a/apps/wing/src/commands/pack.test.ts b/apps/wing/src/commands/pack.test.ts
index 189a5081522..2b658d27ae7 100644
--- a/apps/wing/src/commands/pack.test.ts
+++ b/apps/wing/src/commands/pack.test.ts
@@ -69,6 +69,41 @@ describe("wing pack", () => {
     await expectNoTarball(outdir);
   });
 
+  it("throws an error if package.json uses dependencies instead of peerDependencies", async () => {
+    // GIVEN
+    const projectDir = join(fixturesDir, "invalid6");
+    const outdir = await generateTmpDir();
+    process.chdir(projectDir);
+
+    // WHEN
+    await expect(pack({ outFile: join(outdir, "tarball.tgz") })).rejects.toThrow(
+      /Cannot create package with "dependencies" in package.json. Use "peerDependencies" instead./
+    );
+
+    // THEN
+    await expectNoTarball(outdir);
+  });
+
+  it("includes empty dependencies in package.json", async () => {
+    // valid1's package.json contains this:
+    // {
+    //   ...
+    //   "dependencies": {}
+    // }
+
+    // GIVEN
+    const projectDir = join(fixturesDir, "valid1");
+    const outdir = await generateTmpDir();
+    process.chdir(projectDir);
+
+    // WHEN
+    await expect(pack({ outFile: join(outdir, "tarball.tgz") })).resolves.not.toThrow();
+
+    // THEN
+    const tarballContents = await extractTarball(join(outdir, "tarball.tgz"), outdir);
+    expect(tarballContents).toBeDefined();
+  });
+
   it("includes extra files specified by package.json", async () => {
     // valid1's package.json contains this:
     // {
diff --git a/apps/wing/src/commands/pack.ts b/apps/wing/src/commands/pack.ts
index 72193eb6b22..3929a82e17b 100644
--- a/apps/wing/src/commands/pack.ts
+++ b/apps/wing/src/commands/pack.ts
@@ -120,6 +120,13 @@ export async function pack(options: PackageOptions = {}): Promise<string> {
       }
     }
 
+    // Check if package.json has non-empty "dependencies"
+    if (pkgJson.dependencies && Object.keys(pkgJson.dependencies).length > 0) {
+      throw new Error(
+        `Cannot create package with "dependencies" in package.json. Use "peerDependencies" instead.`
+      );
+    }
+
     // move compiler output
     await fs.rename(compilerOutputDir, path.join(workdir, compilerOutputFolder));