diff --git a/src/kernel-install/kernel-install.in b/src/kernel-install/kernel-install.in
index 440df56f54..105bd54acc 100755
--- a/src/kernel-install/kernel-install.in
+++ b/src/kernel-install/kernel-install.in
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ if [ -z "$MACHINE_ID" ] && [ -f /etc/machine-info ]; then
         log_verbose "machine-id $MACHINE_ID acquired from /etc/machine-info"
 fi
 if [ -z "$MACHINE_ID" ] && [ -s /etc/machine-id ]; then
-    read -r MACHINE_ID </etc/machine-id
+    read -r MACHINE_ID </etc/machine-id || :
     if [ "$MACHINE_ID" = "uninitialized" ]; then
         unset MACHINE_ID
     elif [ {{ '${#MACHINE_ID}' }} -ne 32 ]; then