diff --git a/src/cargo/util/restricted_names.rs b/src/cargo/util/restricted_names.rs
index 8f83674dd65..2c3eaa9e1f8 100644
--- a/src/cargo/util/restricted_names.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/util/restricted_names.rs
@@ -100,6 +100,9 @@ pub fn sanitize_package_name(name: &str, placeholder: char) -> String {
             slug.push(placeholder);
         }
     }
+    if slug.is_empty() {
+        slug.push_str("package");
+    }
     slug
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/testsuite/script.rs b/tests/testsuite/script.rs
index bb672fc0def..ab758498b02 100644
--- a/tests/testsuite/script.rs
+++ b/tests/testsuite/script.rs
@@ -574,13 +574,16 @@ fn test_name_is_number() {
 
     p.cargo("-Zscript -v 42.rs")
         .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo(&["script"])
-        .with_status(101)
+        .with_stdout(
+            r#"bin: [..]/debug/package[EXE]
+args: []
+"#,
+        )
         .with_stderr(
             r#"[WARNING] `package.edition` is unspecifiead, defaulting to `2021`
-[ERROR] failed to parse manifest at `[ROOT]/foo/42.rs`
-
-Caused by:
-  package name cannot be an empty string
+[COMPILING] package v0.0.0 ([ROOT]/foo)
+[FINISHED] dev [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in [..]s
+[RUNNING] `[..]/debug/package[EXE]`
 "#,
         )
         .run();