diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__postgres_role/gencode-remote b/cdist/conf/type/__postgres_role/gencode-remote
index 8fb2c91d..65a9d588 100755
--- a/cdist/conf/type/__postgres_role/gencode-remote
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__postgres_role/gencode-remote
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@
 
 name="$__object_id"
 state_is="$(cat "$__object/explorer/state")"
-state_should="$(cat "$__object/parameter/state")"
-[ ! "$state_should" ] && state_should="present"
+state_should="present"
+[ -f "$__object/parameter/state" ] && state_should="$(cat "$__object/parameter/state")"
 
 [ "$state_is" = "$state_should" ] && exit 0