diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/lua/parse_rockspec.go b/syft/pkg/cataloger/lua/parse_rockspec.go
index f49107688..82646aa67 100644
--- a/syft/pkg/cataloger/lua/parse_rockspec.go
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/lua/parse_rockspec.go
@@ -74,6 +74,11 @@ func parseRockspec(ctx context.Context, resolver file.Resolver, _ *generic.Envir
 		}
 	}
 
+	if name == "" {
+		log.WithFields("path", reader.Path()).Trace("rockspec has no package name, skipping")
+		return nil, nil, nil
+	}
+
 	p := newLuaRocksPackage(
 		ctx,
 		resolver,
diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/lua/parse_rockspec_test.go b/syft/pkg/cataloger/lua/parse_rockspec_test.go
index f97ecc866..7fdc33c04 100644
--- a/syft/pkg/cataloger/lua/parse_rockspec_test.go
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/lua/parse_rockspec_test.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 
 	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/file"
 	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/pkg"
@@ -144,6 +145,31 @@ func TestParseRockspec(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			// a build block before the package/version fields must not truncate the parse
+			Fixture: "testdata/rockspec/build-first-1.0-1.rockspec",
+			ExpectedPkg: pkg.Package{
+				Name:     "foo",
+				Version:  "1.0-1",
+				PURL:     "pkg:luarocks/foo@1.0-1",
+				Type:     pkg.LuaRocksPkg,
+				Language: pkg.Lua,
+				Licenses: pkg.NewLicenseSet(
+					pkg.NewLicenseFromLocationsWithContext(ctx, "MIT", file.NewLocation("testdata/rockspec/build-first-1.0-1.rockspec")),
+				),
+				Metadata: pkg.LuaRocksPackage{
+					Name:        "foo",
+					Version:     "1.0-1",
+					License:     "MIT",
+					Homepage:    "https://github.com/example/foo",
+					Description: "an example rock",
+					URL:         "git+https://github.com/example/foo.git",
+					Dependencies: map[string]string{
+						"lua": ">= 5.1",
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, test := range tests {
@@ -154,6 +180,25 @@ func TestParseRockspec(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestParseRockspec_noPackageName(t *testing.T) {
+	// an empty or whitespace-only rockspec has no package name, so it should
+	// yield no packages and no error rather than a nameless package
+	fixtures := []string{
+		"testdata/rockspec/empty.rockspec",
+		"testdata/rockspec/whitespace-only.rockspec",
+	}
+
+	for _, fixture := range fixtures {
+		t.Run(fixture, func(t *testing.T) {
+			pkgtest.NewCatalogTester().
+				FromFile(t, fixture).
+				WithErrorAssertion(require.NoError).
+				Expects(nil, nil).
+				TestParser(t, parseRockspec)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func Test_corruptRockspec(t *testing.T) {
 	pkgtest.NewCatalogTester().
 		FromFile(t, "testdata/corrupt/bad-1.23.0-0.rockspec").
diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/lua/rockspec_parser.go b/syft/pkg/cataloger/lua/rockspec_parser.go
index be8630293..14317b5f0 100644
--- a/syft/pkg/cataloger/lua/rockspec_parser.go
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/lua/rockspec_parser.go
@@ -548,11 +548,11 @@ func skipBuildNode(data []byte, i *int) {
 			bracesCount--
 		}
 
+		*i++
+
 		if bracesCount == 0 {
 			return
 		}
-
-		*i++
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/lua/testdata/rockspec/build-first-1.0-1.rockspec b/syft/pkg/cataloger/lua/testdata/rockspec/build-first-1.0-1.rockspec
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..94b3f4490
--- /dev/null
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/lua/testdata/rockspec/build-first-1.0-1.rockspec
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+build = {
+   type = "builtin",
+   modules = {
+      foo = "src/foo.lua"
+   }
+}
+package = "foo"
+version = "1.0-1"
+source = {
+   url = "git+https://github.com/example/foo.git"
+}
+description = {
+   summary = "an example rock",
+   homepage = "https://github.com/example/foo",
+   license = "MIT"
+}
+dependencies = {
+   "lua >= 5.1"
+}
diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/lua/testdata/rockspec/empty.rockspec b/syft/pkg/cataloger/lua/testdata/rockspec/empty.rockspec
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/lua/testdata/rockspec/whitespace-only.rockspec b/syft/pkg/cataloger/lua/testdata/rockspec/whitespace-only.rockspec
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..925bd69ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/lua/testdata/rockspec/whitespace-only.rockspec
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+   
+