diff --git a/modules/util/Util/Monitoring.pm b/modules/util/Util/Monitoring.pm
index 8b2d640a4532c7d4e7ecd83de60580354af87729..6ac84dd7aacedace60aede6697cfff73fa29f404 100644
--- a/modules/util/Util/Monitoring.pm
+++ b/modules/util/Util/Monitoring.pm
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ sub get_collection
   my $name= shift;
 
   my $col_handle= '_'. $name;
-  return $self->{$col_handle} if (exists($self->{$col_handle}));
+  return $self->{$col_handle} if (exists($self->{$col_handle}) && defined ($self->{$col_handle}));
 
   my $mon_cfg= $self->{mon_cfg};
   my $paf= $mon_cfg->{'AgentDB'};