diff --git a/perl-xCAT/xCAT/Utils.pm b/perl-xCAT/xCAT/Utils.pm
index 0ec335c89..e1d5eeafb 100644
--- a/perl-xCAT/xCAT/Utils.pm
+++ b/perl-xCAT/xCAT/Utils.pm
@@ -6299,6 +6299,7 @@ sub setAppStatus
 
     my %new_nodeappstat;
     foreach my $node (keys %$nodeappstat) {
+        if ( $node =~ /^\s*$/ ) { next; }  # Skip blank node names 
         my $new_appstat = "";
         my $changed = 0;