diff --git a/src/execo/action.py b/src/execo/action.py
index 5339bbd47eba11b0ece9dab08ba75eb5ef361b07..1bd0fc123c2bd9706e2dd347baf7b0d8f6fcf0f5 100644
--- a/src/execo/action.py
+++ b/src/execo/action.py
@@ -525,7 +525,7 @@ class Remote(Action):
         for (index, host) in enumerate(self.hosts):
             this_process_args = self.process_args.copy()
             for handler_kind in ['stdout_handlers', 'stderr_handlers']:
-                if handler_kind in this_process_args:
+                if handler_kind in this_process_args and this_process_args[handler_kind]:
                     new_handlers = []
                     for h in this_process_args[handler_kind]:
                         if is_string(h):