diff --git a/lua/gitlab/state.lua b/lua/gitlab/state.lua
index 64e5f8ab..7a570e8d 100644
--- a/lua/gitlab/state.lua
+++ b/lua/gitlab/state.lua
@@ -562,7 +562,7 @@ M.dependencies = {
         opts["not[label]"] = opts.notlabel
         opts.notlabel = nil
       end
-      return opts or {}
+      return opts or vim.empty_dict()
     end,
   },
   merge_requests_by_username = {