diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 080221fee..819644c2a 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ Imports:
     curl (>= 2.7),
     desc,
     fs (>= 1.3.0),
-    gh,
+    gh (>= 1.1.0),
     git2r (>= 0.23),
     glue (>= 1.3.0),
     purrr,
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index bf768dd9a..d9a16bdec 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -172,6 +172,10 @@
   put a new folder created by `use_course()` or `create_from_github()`
   (@malcolmbarrett, #1015).
 
+## Dependency changes
+
+gh minimum version is stated to be v.1.1.0, due to changed behaviour around requests that return nothing.
+
 # usethis 1.5.1
 
 This is a patch release with various small features and bug fixes.
diff --git a/R/github-labels.R b/R/github-labels.R
index c28463d12..d9eef174b 100644
--- a/R/github-labels.R
+++ b/R/github-labels.R
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ use_github_labels <- function(repo_spec = github_repo_spec(),
   check_github_token(auth_token)
 
   gh <- function(endpoint, ...) {
-    out <- gh::gh(
+    gh::gh(
       endpoint,
       ...,
       owner = spec_owner(repo_spec),
@@ -81,11 +81,6 @@ use_github_labels <- function(repo_spec = github_repo_spec(),
         "Accept" = "application/vnd.github.symmetra-preview+json"
       )
     )
-    if (identical(out[[1]], "")) {
-      list()
-    } else {
-      out
-    }
   }
 
   cur_labels <- gh("GET /repos/:owner/:repo/labels")
diff --git a/R/pr.R b/R/pr.R
index 4cc2734dd..dfae559b5 100644
--- a/R/pr.R
+++ b/R/pr.R
@@ -392,7 +392,6 @@ pr_find <- function(owner,
                     repo,
                     pr_owner = owner,
                     pr_branch = git_branch_name()) {
-  # Look at all PRs
   prs <- gh::gh("GET /repos/:owner/:repo/pulls",
     owner = owner,
     repo = repo,
@@ -400,8 +399,7 @@ pr_find <- function(owner,
     .token = check_github_token(allow_empty = TRUE)
   )
 
-  # prs has length zero if gh >= v1.1.0 and is "" for earlier versions
-  if (length(prs) < 1 || identical(prs[[1]], "")) {
+  if (length(prs) < 1) {
     return(character())
   }
 
diff --git a/R/tidyverse.R b/R/tidyverse.R
index 410edd981..27680be6a 100644
--- a/R/tidyverse.R
+++ b/R/tidyverse.R
@@ -366,7 +366,9 @@ releases <- function(repo_spec = github_repo_spec()) {
     owner = spec_owner(repo_spec),
     repo = spec_repo(repo_spec)
   )
-  if (identical(res[[1]], "")) return(NULL)
+  if (length(res) < 1) {
+    return(NULL)
+  }
   pluck_chr(res, "tag_name")
 }