diff --git a/build/recipes/setup_to_meta/setup_to_meta.py b/build/recipes/setup_to_meta/setup_to_meta.py
index e26e4777b24cf0c638dc4cdba01eeff83f3d9278..e65c1ba2ae9e104a35dfb543cc9985c0224ab107 100644
--- a/build/recipes/setup_to_meta/setup_to_meta.py
+++ b/build/recipes/setup_to_meta/setup_to_meta.py
@@ -46,18 +46,20 @@ class MetadataGenerator:
         """
         reqs_string = ''
         reqs_list = ''
+        reqs_string += 'requirements:\n'
+        build_reqs = '  build:\n'
+        run_reqs = '  run:\n'
+        host_reqs = '  host:\n'
+        reqs_list += '    - python={}\n'.format(PYTHON_VERSION)
+
         if 'install_requires' in self.setup.keys():
-            reqs_string += 'requirements:\n'
-            build_reqs = '  build:\n'
-            run_reqs = '  run:\n'
-            host_reqs = '  host:\n'
-            reqs_list += '    - python={}\n'.format(PYTHON_VERSION)
             for req in self.setup['install_requires']:
                 reqs_list += '    - {}\n'.format(req)
-            reqs_string += build_reqs + reqs_list + \
-                           run_reqs + reqs_list + \
-                           host_reqs + reqs_list + \
-                           '\n'
+
+        reqs_string += build_reqs + reqs_list + \
+                       run_reqs + reqs_list + \
+                       host_reqs + reqs_list + \
+                       '\n'
         return reqs_string
 
     def fmt_test(self):
@@ -88,8 +90,11 @@ class MetadataGenerator:
 
     def generate(self):
         # Filter numpy etc. out of the requirements
-        self.setup['install_requires'] = [req for req in self.setup['install_requires'] if req != 'numpy']
-    
+        try:
+            self.setup['install_requires'] = [req for req in self.setup['install_requires'] if req != 'numpy']
+        except KeyError:
+            pass
+
         name = self.setup['name']
         version = self.setup['version']
         entry_points = self.fmt_ep()