diff --git a/openspec/changes/fix-sync-dbs-not-loaded/tasks.md b/openspec/changes/fix-sync-dbs-not-loaded/tasks.md
index 414c1a1..ba4bab4 100644
--- a/openspec/changes/fix-sync-dbs-not-loaded/tasks.md
+++ b/openspec/changes/fix-sync-dbs-not-loaded/tasks.md
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 ## 1. Implement sync DB registration
 
-- [ ] 1.1 Modify Pac struct to include a method for registering sync DBs
-- [ ] 1.2 In New(), after getting empty syncDBs from handle, loop through ["core", "extra", "multilib"] and call RegisterSyncDB for each
-- [ ] 1.3 Filter out repos that have no packages (not configured in pacman.conf)
+- [x] 1.1 Modify Pac struct to include a method for registering sync DBs
+- [x] 1.2 In New(), after getting empty syncDBs from handle, loop through ["core", "extra", "multilib"] and call RegisterSyncDB for each
+- [x] 1.3 Filter out repos that have no packages (not configured in pacman.conf)
 
 ## 2. Test the fix
 
-- [ ] 2.1 Run `./declpac --dry-run --state <(echo "cmake")` and verify it resolves cmake from extra repo
-- [ ] 2.2 Test with other official repo packages (e.g., "git" from extra, "base" from core)
\ No newline at end of file
+- [x] 2.1 Run `./declpac --dry-run --state <(echo "cmake")` and verify it resolves cmake from extra repo
+- [x] 2.2 Test with other official repo packages (e.g., "git" from extra, "base" from core)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pkg/pacman/pacman.go b/pkg/pacman/pacman.go
index 5ef38a0..16e470a 100644
--- a/pkg/pacman/pacman.go
+++ b/pkg/pacman/pacman.go
@@ -50,6 +50,14 @@ func New() (*Pac, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to get sync databases: %w", err)
 	}
 
+	if len(syncDBs) == 0 {
+		syncDBs, err = registerSyncDBs(handle)
+		if err != nil {
+			handle.Release()
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to register sync databases: %w", err)
+		}
+	}
+
 	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "[debug] New: done (%.2fs)\n", time.Since(start).Seconds())
 	return &Pac{
 		aurCache: make(map[string]AURPackage),
@@ -66,6 +74,33 @@ func (p *Pac) Close() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func registerSyncDBs(handle dyalpm.Handle) ([]dyalpm.Database, error) {
+	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "[debug] registerSyncDBs: starting...\n")
+
+	repos := []string{"core", "extra", "multilib"}
+	var dbs []dyalpm.Database
+
+	for _, repo := range repos {
+		db, err := handle.RegisterSyncDB(repo, 0)
+		if err != nil {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		count := 0
+		db.PkgCache().ForEach(func(pkg dyalpm.Package) error {
+			count++
+			return nil
+		})
+
+		if count > 0 {
+			dbs = append(dbs, db)
+		}
+	}
+
+	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "[debug] registerSyncDBs: done (%d dbs)\n", len(dbs))
+	return dbs, nil
+}
+
 type PackageInfo struct {
 	Name      string
 	InAUR     bool