diff --git a/src/im_mad/remotes/kvm-probes.d/vm/snapshot/recovery.rb b/src/im_mad/remotes/kvm-probes.d/vm/snapshot/recovery.rb
index 2293bc5d20..7d604e3547 100755
--- a/src/im_mad/remotes/kvm-probes.d/vm/snapshot/recovery.rb
+++ b/src/im_mad/remotes/kvm-probes.d/vm/snapshot/recovery.rb
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ def xml_elem(xml, xpath)
     rexml = REXML::Document.new(xml).root
     rexml.elements[xpath].text.to_s
 rescue StandardError
-    nil
+    ''
 end
 
 ds_loc = xml_elem(STDIN.read, 'DATASTORE_LOCATION')