diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 3bbd8de..4f88e73 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
   "name": "@vegaprotocol/approbation",
-  "version": "4.5.0",
+  "version": "4.5.1",
   "lockfileVersion": 3,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
       "name": "@vegaprotocol/approbation",
-      "version": "4.5.0",
+      "version": "4.5.1",
       "license": "Unlicense",
       "dependencies": {
         "console-table-printer": "^2.10.0",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 52c10bb..2759fdf 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@vegaprotocol/approbation",
-  "version": "4.5.0",
+  "version": "4.5.1",
   "description": "Match Acceptance Criteria Codes with the tests that test them",
   "engine": ">= 18",
   "bin": "./bin/approbation.js",
diff --git a/src/check-references.js b/src/check-references.js
index 5375615..18e432e 100644
--- a/src/check-references.js
+++ b/src/check-references.js
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ function checkReferences (specsGlob, testsGlob, categoriesPath, ignoreGlob, feat
       setCategories(specCategories)
       // Features gather Acceptance Criteria across spec files or categories, and tally the numbers
       
-      if (featuresPath !== undefined) {
+      if (featuresPath !== undefined && featuresPath.length > 0) {
         specFeatures = setFeatures(JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(featuresPath)))
       }