diff --git a/guarddog/cli.py b/guarddog/cli.py
index 8e2cddfa..a501e1ab 100644
--- a/guarddog/cli.py
+++ b/guarddog/cli.py
@@ -4,11 +4,11 @@
 Includes rules based on package registry metadata and source code analysis.
 """
 
+import json as js
 import logging
 import os
 import sys
-from typing import cast, Optional
-import json as js
+from typing import Optional, cast
 
 import click
 from prettytable import PrettyTable
@@ -153,8 +153,14 @@ def cli(log_level):
     pass
 
 
-def _get_rule_param(rules: tuple[str, ...], exclude_rules: tuple[str, ...], ecosystem: ECOSYSTEM) -> set:
-    rule_param = set()
+def _get_rule_param(
+    rules: tuple[str, ...], exclude_rules: tuple[str, ...], ecosystem: ECOSYSTEM
+) -> Optional[set]:
+    """
+    This function should return None if no rules are provided
+    Else a set of rules to be used for scanning
+    """
+    rule_param = None
     if len(rules) > 0:
         rule_param = set(rules)
 
diff --git a/tests/core/test_cli.py b/tests/core/test_cli.py
index 5b6d8788..404bc754 100644
--- a/tests/core/test_cli.py
+++ b/tests/core/test_cli.py
@@ -24,13 +24,22 @@ def test_get_rule_param_include():
     """
     Test the parsing function returns the included parameter
     """
-    assert len(guarddog.cli._get_rule_param(("shady-links",), (), ECOSYSTEM.NPM)) == 1
-
+    rules = guarddog.cli._get_rule_param(("shady-links",), (), ECOSYSTEM.NPM)
+    assert rules
+    assert len(rules) == 1
 
 def test_get_rule_param_exclude():
     """
-    Test the parsing function returns returns a list without the excluded parameter
+    Test the parsing function returns a list without the excluded parameter
     """
     rules = guarddog.cli._get_rule_param((), ("shady-links",), ECOSYSTEM.PYPI)
+    assert rules
     assert len(rules) != 1
     assert "shady-links" not in rules
+
+def test_get_rule_param_empty():
+    """
+    Test the parsing function returns None when no rules are provided
+    """
+    rules = guarddog.cli._get_rule_param((), (), ECOSYSTEM.PYPI)
+    assert rules is None