diff --git a/roles/edpm_prepare/tasks/main.yml b/roles/edpm_prepare/tasks/main.yml
index 9029dab6f9..6be84a1f2d 100644
--- a/roles/edpm_prepare/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/edpm_prepare/tasks/main.yml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
   when:
     - zuul is not defined
     - cifmw_operator_build_output is defined
-    - cifmw_operator_build_meta_name in operators_build_output.operators
+    - cifmw_operator_build_meta_name in (cifmw_operator_build_output | default({'operators':{}})).operators
   tags:
     - always
   vars: