diff --git a/src/test/pybind/test_rados.py b/src/test/pybind/test_rados.py
index 6a70f12daaf64..50b09053cdd00 100644
--- a/src/test/pybind/test_rados.py
+++ b/src/test/pybind/test_rados.py
@@ -144,7 +144,10 @@ def test_ping_monitor(self):
         ret, buf, out = self.rados.mon_command(json.dumps(cmd), b'')
         for mon in json.loads(buf.decode('utf8'))['mons']:
             while True:
-                buf = json.loads(self.rados.ping_monitor(mon['name']))
+                output = self.rados.ping_monitor(mon['name'])
+                if output is None:
+                    continue
+                buf = json.loads(output)
                 if buf.get('health'):
                     break