diff --git a/datadog_checks_base/datadog_checks/base/utils/subprocess_output.py b/datadog_checks_base/datadog_checks/base/utils/subprocess_output.py
index b84c3590d1a99..ed33dcfccc229 100644
--- a/datadog_checks_base/datadog_checks/base/utils/subprocess_output.py
+++ b/datadog_checks_base/datadog_checks/base/utils/subprocess_output.py
@@ -64,9 +64,7 @@ def get_subprocess_output(command, log, raise_on_empty_output=True, log_debug=Tr
         )
     )
 
-    if out:
-        out = ensure_unicode(out)
-    if err:
-        err = ensure_unicode(err)
+    out = ensure_unicode(out) if out is not None else None
+    err = ensure_unicode(err) if err is not None else None
 
     return out, err, returncode