diff --git a/ext/windows/service/daemon.rb b/ext/windows/service/daemon.rb
index 5d8836cab10..d1304f50996 100755
--- a/ext/windows/service/daemon.rb
+++ b/ext/windows/service/daemon.rb
@@ -161,10 +161,12 @@ def report_windows_event(type, id, message)
   # @return runinterval [Integer] How often to do a Puppet run, in seconds.
   def parse_runinterval(puppet_path)
     begin
-      runinterval = %x(#{puppet_path} config --section agent --log_level notice print runinterval).to_i
-      if runinterval == 0
+      runinterval = %x(#{puppet_path} config --section agent --log_level notice print runinterval)
+      if runinterval == ''
         runinterval = 1800
         log_err("Failed to determine runinterval, defaulting to #{runinterval} seconds")
+      else
+        runinterval = runinterval.to_i
       end
     rescue Exception => e
       log_exception(e)