The result continued Gretna's respectable run of form, as they extended their unbeaten run to three games.
Only one stand at Fir Park was open and, as a football spectacle, this was as far away as the Red Army could get to their forthcoming UEFA Cup voyage to Bayern Munich in February.
Jimmy Calderwood was not happy with his side's display against Rangers on Sunday and made four changes to his starting line-up as he looked to bring a halt to an alarming run of five successive away defeats.
Andrew Considine, Scott Severin, Zander Diamond and Chris Clark dropped out altogether with Karim Touzani, Derek Young, Lee Mair and Sone Aluko coming into the team.
Unsurprisingly, after an impressive win at Tannadice, Davie Irons named an unchanged Gretna team.
The first half was distinctly average, with neither side creating much in the way of goalscoring chances.
Gretna passed up the best opportunity of the opening period in the 26th minute, when Henry Makinwa's flick-on fell to Fabian Yantorno inside the box, but the Uruguayan volleyed widely over the bar.
Aberdeen boss Calderwood made an attacking change at the interval with Steve Lovell replacing Dutch midfielder Karim Touzani.
The Dons began to pile the pressure on their lowly hosts and twice went close on the hour-mark.
First, Lee Miller saw his bicycle kick cleared off the line by David Cowan after good work by Lovell. Then, Aluko had a deflected right-foot shot saved brilliantly by Tony Caig.
The Dons finally took an undeserved lead with five minutes remaining as Lovell fed Derek Young down the right and the midfielder's cut-back was converted by Lovell for his first goal of the season.
Two minutes later Gretna had a great chance to equalise when referee Brian Winter awarded them a penalty after Richie Byrne's push on Kenny Deuchar.
The Aberdeen players were enraged by the decision and, in the aftermath, Richard Foster was booked for dissent.
However, Deucher's spot-kick struck the post and Aberdeen breathed a temporary sigh of relief.
To their credit though, Gretna continued to battle for an equaliser and got their reward in stoppage time as substitute Allan Jenkins netted from close range to earn the hosts a valuable point in their fight against relegation.