diff --git a/resources/switch.php b/resources/switch.php
index ed15401005..2e8b37ba58 100644
--- a/resources/switch.php
+++ b/resources/switch.php
@@ -401,6 +401,12 @@ function save_var_xml() {
 
 		//get the hostname
 		$hostname = trim(event_socket_request_cmd('api switchname'));
+		if (strlen($hostname) == 0){
+			$hostname = trim(gethostname());
+		}
+		if (strlen($hostname) == 0){
+			return;
+		}
 
 		//build the xml
 		$sql = "select * from v_vars ";