--- bin/emerge	(revision 4526)
+++ bin/emerge	(revision 4527)
@@ -1113,6 +1113,7 @@ 
 				if not arg:
 					if "empty" not in self.myparams and \
 						"deep" not in self.myparams and \
+						myparent and \
 						vardb.match(x):
 						continue