diff --git a/geomagio/edge/EdgeFactory.py b/geomagio/edge/EdgeFactory.py
index 69837643879520803bea4c42e6a2741fea1e4845..a26993d477f98b82603d5ec359b275a9f824cc98 100644
--- a/geomagio/edge/EdgeFactory.py
+++ b/geomagio/edge/EdgeFactory.py
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ class EdgeFactory(TimeseriesFactory):
         # restore stdout
         finally:
             output = temp_stdout.getvalue()
-            if output != '':
+            if output:
                 sys.stderr.write(str(output))
             temp_stdout.close()
             sys.stdout = original_stdout