diff --git a/board/common/overlay/etc/init.d/S50date b/board/common/overlay/etc/init.d/S50date
index e80caf6943..de4d4f8225 100755
--- a/board/common/overlay/etc/init.d/S50date
+++ b/board/common/overlay/etc/init.d/S50date
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ source $conf
 
 set_current_date_http() {
     date_str=$(curl -v -s -m $date_timeout -X GET http://$date_host 2>&1 | grep Date | sed -e 's/< Date: //')
+    test -z "$date_str" && return 1
     date -u -D "%a, %d %b %Y %H:%M:%S" -s "$date_str" > /dev/null
     return $?
 }