diff --git a/checks/core.py b/checks/core.py
index 3ea8c1d..1289893 100644
--- a/checks/core.py
+++ b/checks/core.py
@@ -51,13 +51,13 @@ def getOBSVersionLine(lines):
     for line in versionLines:
         if versionPattern.search(line):
             return line
-    return versionLines[-1]
 
 
 def getOBSVersionString(lines):
     versionLine = getOBSVersionLine(lines)
-    versionString = versionLine[versionLine.find("OBS"):]
-    return versionString.split()[1]
+    if versionLine:
+        versionString = versionLine[versionLine.find("OBS"):]
+        return versionString.split()[1]
 
 
 def checkObsVersion(lines):
diff --git a/checks/utils/obsversion.py b/checks/utils/obsversion.py
index be03d29..9a44106 100644
--- a/checks/utils/obsversion.py
+++ b/checks/utils/obsversion.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ class ObsVersion():
                    None: 3}
 
     def __init__(self, version_string):
-        self.string = version_string
+        self.string = str(version_string)
         self.parsed = False
         self.version = self._VersionNum(self._nan, self._nan, self._nan, 3, 0)
         # NaN for false comparisons