diff --git a/src/emuvim/api/sonata/dummygatekeeper.py b/src/emuvim/api/sonata/dummygatekeeper.py
index b6d1dd7..813bc5e 100755
--- a/src/emuvim/api/sonata/dummygatekeeper.py
+++ b/src/emuvim/api/sonata/dummygatekeeper.py
@@ -272,9 +272,9 @@
             # 3. get the resource limits
             res_req = u.get("resource_requirements")
             cpu_list = res_req.get("cpu").get("cores")
-            if not cpu_list or len(cpu_list)==0:
+            if cpu_list is None:
                 cpu_list = res_req.get("cpu").get("vcpus")
-            if not cpu_list or len(cpu_list)==0:
+            if cpu_list is None:
                 cpu_list="1"
             cpu_bw = res_req.get("cpu").get("cpu_bw")
             if not cpu_bw: