diff --git a/xCAT-server/lib/xcat/plugins/esx.pm b/xCAT-server/lib/xcat/plugins/esx.pm
index 75e59ef3c..946ca371f 100644
--- a/xCAT-server/lib/xcat/plugins/esx.pm
+++ b/xCAT-server/lib/xcat/plugins/esx.pm
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ sub preprocess_request {
     my $vusername = "Administrator";
     my $vpassword = "";
 
-    unless ($request) { return; }
+    unless ($request and $request->{command} and $request->{command}->[0]) { return; }
 
 	if ($request->{command}->[0] eq 'copycd')
 	{    #don't farm out copycd