diff --git a/hbc b/hbc
index b21cd45..84ad725 100755
--- a/hbc
+++ b/hbc
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ def doexec(conn, data):
 		fail = "CalledProcessError"
 	except Exception as e:
 		syslogtrace('System')
-		ro = None
+		ro = "N/A"
 		fail = "cmd failed: %s" % e
 	msg={'service': 'command', 'msg': fail+" "+ro}
 	conns[conn].sendto(msg)