diff --git a/gitlab_deps/deps.py b/gitlab_deps/deps.py
index b27a15c2a29d7b7a1ced972a3186952b9a26405d..945e621c75a2ccceade5145ac3aa4f64ed16a49c 100644
--- a/gitlab_deps/deps.py
+++ b/gitlab_deps/deps.py
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ def get_explicit_deps(gl, project_path, branch_name):
         return []
     try:
         f = p.files.get(file_path='.gitlab-deps', ref=branch_name)
-        return f.decode().decode('utf-8').split('\n')
+        return not_null(f.decode().decode('utf-8').split('\n'))
     except Exception:
         return []
 
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ _url_rx = re.compile(r'^https?://[^/]+/([^:]+)(:(.*))?$')
 
 def url_to_project(url, gitlab_url):
     m = _url_rx.match(url)
-    if url.startswith(gitlab_url) and m and m[1] == gitlab_url:
+    if url.startswith(gitlab_url) and m:
         return m[1], m[3] or DEFAULT_BRANCH