diff --git a/src/lxc/confile.c b/src/lxc/confile.c
index 8787db062..3acf62a93 100644
--- a/src/lxc/confile.c
+++ b/src/lxc/confile.c
@@ -1386,6 +1386,9 @@ static int config_ttydir(const char *key, const char *value,
 static int config_kmsg(const char *key, const char *value,
 			  struct lxc_conf *lxc_conf)
 {
+	if (config_value_empty(value))
+		return 0;
+
 	if (lxc_safe_uint(value, &lxc_conf->kmsg) < 0)
 		return -1;