diff --git a/lib/kitchen/driver/ec2.rb b/lib/kitchen/driver/ec2.rb
index a20b286..3808ded 100644
--- a/lib/kitchen/driver/ec2.rb
+++ b/lib/kitchen/driver/ec2.rb
@@ -559,7 +559,7 @@ def wait_until_ready(server, state)
               # supplied, try to fetch it from the AWS instance
               fetch_windows_admin_password(server, state)
             else
-              output = server.console_output.output
+              output = server.console_output.output || ''
               unless output.nil?
                 output = Base64.decode64(output)
                 debug "Console output: --- \n#{output}"