diff --git a/__tests__/config.test.ts b/__tests__/config.test.ts
index 082cd67..dbf3aa0 100644
--- a/__tests__/config.test.ts
+++ b/__tests__/config.test.ts
@@ -67,6 +67,13 @@ test('it raises an error if both an allow and denylist are specified', async ()
     'You cannot specify both allow-licenses and deny-licenses'
   )
 })
+test('it raises an error if an empty allow list is specified', async () => {
+  setInput('config-file', './__tests__/fixtures/config-empty-allow-sample.yml')
+
+  await expect(readConfig()).rejects.toThrow(
+    'You should provide at least one license in allow-licenses'
+  )
+})
 
 test('it raises an error when given an unknown severity', async () => {
   setInput('fail-on-severity', 'zombies')
diff --git a/__tests__/fixtures/config-empty-allow-sample.yml b/__tests__/fixtures/config-empty-allow-sample.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1e7f078
--- /dev/null
+++ b/__tests__/fixtures/config-empty-allow-sample.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+fail_on_severity: critical
+allow_licenses: []
diff --git a/__tests__/licenses.test.ts b/__tests__/licenses.test.ts
index 27c5fc5..9cc2cae 100644
--- a/__tests__/licenses.test.ts
+++ b/__tests__/licenses.test.ts
@@ -99,17 +99,6 @@ test('it adds license inside the deny list to forbidden changes', async () => {
   expect(forbidden.length).toEqual(1)
 })
 
-// This is more of a "here's a behavior that might be surprising" than an actual
-// thing we want in the system. Please remove this test after refactoring.
-test('it adds all licenses to forbidden changes when allow is provided an empty array', async () => {
-  const changes: Changes = [npmChange, rubyChange]
-  let {forbidden} = await getInvalidLicenseChanges(changes, {
-    allow: [],
-    deny: ['BSD']
-  })
-  expect(forbidden.length).toBe(2)
-})
-
 test('it does not add license outside the allow list to forbidden changes if it is in removed changes', async () => {
   const changes: Changes = [
     {...npmChange, change_type: 'removed'},