diff --git a/functions-common b/functions-common
index 4bc3bba..3e29e8c 100644
--- a/functions-common
+++ b/functions-common
@@ -1094,7 +1094,8 @@
     fi
 
     # Check if there is any falure flag file under $SERVICE_DIR/$SCREEN_NAME
-    failures=`ls "$SERVICE_DIR/$SCREEN_NAME"/*.failure 2>/dev/null`
+    # make this -o errexit safe
+    failures=`ls "$SERVICE_DIR/$SCREEN_NAME"/*.failure 2>/dev/null || /bin/true`
 
     for service in $failures; do
         service=`basename $service`