diff --git a/tests/shell/external/example_codegen_econf_empty_array_spec.sh b/tests/shell/external/example_codegen_econf_empty_array_spec.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e9b96d14593
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/shell/external/example_codegen_econf_empty_array_spec.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+@INCLUDE_COMMON@
+
+echo
+echo ELEKTRA CHECK EXTERNAL CODEGEN ECONF EMPTY ARRAY SPEC
+echo
+
+if command -v realpath; then
+	if command -v pkg-config; then
+		if ! pkg-config elektra; then
+			echo "Elektra not installed, will skip"
+			exit 0
+		fi
+	else
+		echo "pkg-config not installed, will skip"
+		exit 0
+	fi
+else
+	echo "realpath is not installed, will skip"
+	exit 0
+fi
+
+check_version
+
+EXTERNAL_FOLDER="@CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR@/examples/codegen/econf"
+
+check_if_parent_exists() {
+	if grep -e "spec:\/sw\/example\/econf/\#0\/current\/format\/#$"; then
+		echo "array parent was found"
+		return 0
+	else
+	  echo "did not find array parent spec:/sw/example/econf/#0/current/format/#"
+		return 1
+	fi
+}
+
+do_tests() {
+	KEY="/sw/example/econf/#0/current"
+	UKEY="user:$KEY"
+	SPECKEY="spec:$KEY"
+
+	"$KDB" umount "$SPECKEY"
+	"$KDB" umount "$KEY"
+	"$KDB" rm -r "$UKEY"
+	"$KDB" rm -r "$SPECKEY"
+
+	"$KDB" mount `pwd`/spec.ini "$SPECKEY" ni
+	"$KDB" import "$SPECKEY" ni < "$EXTERNAL_FOLDER/spec.ini"
+	"$KDB" spec-mount "$KEY"
+
+	"$KDB" ls "spec:/sw/example/econf/#0" | check_if_parent_exists
+
+	"$KDB" meta-set "$KEY/format" array "#2"
+	"$KDB" ls "spec:/sw/example/econf/#0" | check_if_parent_exists
+}
+
+echo "Testing build with cmake"
+
+cd "$EXTERNAL_FOLDER" || exit
+mkdir build
+cd build || exit
+
+# manually set Elektra_DIR and KDB to support non-standard install locations
+cmake ../cmake -DElektra_DIR:PATH="$(realpath $(dirname "$0")/../../cmake/Elektra)" -DKDB:PATH="$KDB"
+succeed_if "could not run cmake"
+
+cmake --build .
+succeed_if "could not build cmake project"
+
+do_tests
+
+cd ..
+rm -r build
+
+echo "Testing build with pkgconfig"
+
+cd "$EXTERNAL_FOLDER/pkgconfig" || exit
+# set KDB to support non-standard install locations
+KDB="$KDB" make
+succeed_if "could not build pkgconfig project"
+
+do_tests
+
+make clean
+
+end_script gen
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