diff --git a/src/registry_testing.jl b/src/registry_testing.jl
index 14dd372a..e27409f6 100644
--- a/src/registry_testing.jl
+++ b/src/registry_testing.jl
@@ -206,9 +206,6 @@ function test(path=pwd(); registry_deps::Vector{<:AbstractString}=String[])
                 # Compat.toml testing
                 compatfile = abspath(data["path"], "Compat.toml")
                 if isfile(compatfile)
-                    # If Compat.toml exists, Deps.toml must exist.
-                    Test.@test isfile(depsfile)
-
                     compat = Pkg.TOML.parsefile(compatfile)
                     # Test that all names with compat is a dependency
                     compatnames = Set{String}(x for (_, d) in compat for (x, _) in d)
@@ -244,6 +241,10 @@ function test(path=pwd(); registry_deps::Vector{<:AbstractString}=String[])
 
                 # https://github.com/JuliaRegistries/RegistryCI.jl/issues/522
                 # For every version, each compat entry has a corresponding deps entry.
+                #
+                # Note: it is legal for a package to have Compat.toml but not have
+                # Deps.toml. Specifically, this is legal if (and only if) the package
+                # does not have any dependencies, and does have a compat entry for `julia`.
                 if isfile(compatfile)
                     compat_uncompressed = RegistryTools.Compress.load(compatfile)
                     deps_uncompressed = isfile(depsfile) ? RegistryTools.Compress.load(depsfile) : Dict()
@@ -253,7 +254,13 @@ function test(path=pwd(); registry_deps::Vector{<:AbstractString}=String[])
                         Test.@test compat_for_this_v isa AbstractDict
                         Test.@test deps_for_this_v isa AbstractDict
                         for compat_pkgname in keys(compat_for_this_v)
-                            Test.@test haskey(deps_for_this_v, compat_pkgname)
+                            # If the package has a compat entry for `julia`, there
+                            # is no need to have `julia` listed in Deps.toml.
+                            # However, every other compat entry needs to be listed
+                            # in Deps.toml.
+                            if compat_pkgname != julia"
+                                Test.@test haskey(deps_for_this_v, compat_pkgname)
+                            end
                         end
                     end
                 end