+diff --git a/perl/Amanda/Header.pm b/perl/Amanda/Header.pm
+index d8cc692..4c85841 100644
+--- a/perl/Amanda/Header.pm
++++ b/perl/Amanda/Header.pm
+@@ -482,7 +482,12 @@ sub from_string {
+ sub get_dle {
+ my $self = shift;
+
+- return Amanda::Header::HeaderXML->new($self->{'dle_str'});
++# Patch taken from mailing list amanda-users on 2012/03/08
++ if ($self->{'dle_str'}) {
++ return Amanda::Header::HeaderXML->new($self->{'dle_str'});
++ } else {
++ return undef;
++ }
+ }
+
+ package Amanda::Header::Header;