How to fix dpkg: serious warning: files list file for package 'package-name' contains empty filename in APT

The error message will tell you which package is corrupted. Extract the package name from the error:

dpkg: serious warning: files list file for package 'package-name' contains empty filename

In this example, the corrupted package is package-name.

Check the actual contents of the corrupted .list file to confirm corruption:

sudo cat /var/lib/dpkg/info/package-name.list

If it shows weird hex characters instead of clear text (filenames), the file is corrupted and should be deleted. If it's empty, deletion is safe.

Remove the corrupted metadata file. This is safe because dpkg can regenerate it:

sudo rm /var/lib/dpkg/info/package-name.list

Replace package-name with the actual package name from the error message.

Reinstalling the package will regenerate the .list file:

sudo apt-get install --reinstall package-name

This downloads the package again and reinstalls it, creating a fresh .list file with correct metadata.

If multiple packages show the same error, repeat steps 1-4 for each one. For efficiency, create a script:

# Extract package names from error output and save to a file
# Then reinstall them in sequence
for pkg in package1 package2 package3; do
  sudo rm /var/lib/dpkg/info/$pkg.list
  sudo apt-get install --reinstall $pkg -y
done

This will iterate through all corrupted packages and repair them automatically.

After repairs, verify dpkg can operate normally:

# Check for any remaining warnings
sudo apt-get check

# Try a safe operation
sudo apt-get update

# Attempt an upgrade
sudo apt-get upgrade

If these commands succeed without dpkg warnings, the corruption has been resolved.