diff --git a/src/vm/VirtualMachine.cc b/src/vm/VirtualMachine.cc
index 8d8f2587bb..e77ee1e73e 100644
--- a/src/vm/VirtualMachine.cc
+++ b/src/vm/VirtualMachine.cc
@@ -2908,7 +2908,8 @@ int VirtualMachine::updateconf(VirtualMachineTemplate& tmpl, string &err)
     }
     else if ( context_bck != 0 && context_new != 0 )
     {
-        string files_ds = context_bck->vector_value("FILES_DS");
+        string files_ds     = context_bck->vector_value("FILES_DS");
+        string files_ds_new = context_new->vector_value("FILES_DS");
 
         context_new = context_new->clone();
         context_new->remove("FILES_DS");
@@ -2929,7 +2930,7 @@ int VirtualMachine::updateconf(VirtualMachineTemplate& tmpl, string &err)
 
         context_new = obj_template->get("CONTEXT");
 
-        if ( !files_ds.empty() )
+        if ( !files_ds.empty() && !files_ds_new.empty())
         {
             context_new->replace("FILES_DS", files_ds);
         }