diff --git a/lib/rscons/environment.rb b/lib/rscons/environment.rb
index 9f7ace6..563c037 100644
--- a/lib/rscons/environment.rb
+++ b/lib/rscons/environment.rb
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ module Rscons
         unless vars.nil? or vars.is_a?(Hash) or vars.is_a?(VarSet)
           raise "Unexpected construction variable set: #{vars.inspect}"
         end
-        sources = [sources] unless sources.is_a?(Array)
+        sources = Array(sources)
         add_target(target, @builders[method.to_s], sources, vars, rest)
       else
         super
diff --git a/spec/build_tests_spec.rb b/spec/build_tests_spec.rb
index 6783cea..8e24359 100644
--- a/spec/build_tests_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/build_tests_spec.rb
@@ -484,4 +484,18 @@ EOF
     File.read("simplepp.cc").should =~ /# \d+ "simple.cc"/
     `./simple`.should == "This is a simple C++ program\n"
   end
+
+  it "supports invoking builders with no sources and a build_root defined" do
+    class TestBuilder < Rscons::Builder
+      def run(target, sources, cache, env, vars)
+        target
+      end
+    end
+    test_dir("simple")
+    Rscons::Environment.new do |env|
+      env.build_root = "build"
+      env.add_builder(TestBuilder.new)
+      env.TestBuilder("file")
+    end
+  end
 end