diff --git a/lib/yashchiki/commons.sh b/lib/yashchiki/commons.sh
index 0ec605c087f9bffbb5140847467fa2dac346bdd3..a770878dca8d089a4459939e886e1e885a8a02a1 100755
--- a/lib/yashchiki/commons.sh
+++ b/lib/yashchiki/commons.sh
@@ -308,7 +308,11 @@ install_from_buildcache() {
 
 _install_from_buildcache() {
     # only extract the hashes present in buildcache on first invocation
-    if (( "$(wc -l <"${FILE_HASHES_BUILDCACHE}")" == 0 )); then
+    size_file_hashes=0
+    if [ -e "${FILE_HASHES_BUILDCACHE}" ]; then
+        size_file_hashes="$(wc -l <"${FILE_HASHES_BUILDCACHE}")"
+    fi
+    if (( "${size_file_hashes}" == 0 )); then
         compute_hashes_buildcache
     fi
 
diff --git a/lib/yashchiki/fetch.sh b/lib/yashchiki/fetch.sh
index d9f6f57506666f33ccb8fd2120a3b3a2f24d6fed..e06fdf03f457b971565b9e22638c252786621616 100755
--- a/lib/yashchiki/fetch.sh
+++ b/lib/yashchiki/fetch.sh
@@ -180,10 +180,13 @@ fi
 fetch_specfiles=()
 for package in "${packages_to_fetch[@]}"; do
     specfile="$(get_specfile_name "${package}")"
-	echo "Specfile for ${package} is ${specfile}."
-	word_count=$(wc -l <"${specfile}")
-    echo "Word count ${word_count}"
-    if (( $(wc -l <"${specfile}") == 0 )); then
+    echo "Specfile for ${package} is ${specfile}."
+    word_count=0
+    if [ -e "${specfile}" ]; then
+        word_count=$(wc -l <"${specfile}")
+    fi
+    echo "Specfile word count ${word_count}"
+    if [ "${word_count}" -eq 0 ]; then
         echo "${package} failed to concretize!" >&2
         exit 1
     fi