diff --git a/beat/core/stats.py b/beat/core/stats.py
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index 1e056b2534bc71eb4e110ce57a83923e1c049001..021d006bf2f6b9cb3130c841b79cf552b3c3d7c6
--- a/beat/core/stats.py
+++ b/beat/core/stats.py
@@ -280,6 +280,15 @@ def cpu_statistics(start, end):
 
   """
 
+  if not end.has_key('system_cpu_usage'):
+    return {
+            'user': 0.0,
+            'system': 0.0,
+            'total': 0.0,
+            'percent': 0.0,
+            'processors': 1,
+           }
+
   if start is not None:
     user_cpu = end['cpu_usage']['total_usage'] - \
         start['cpu_usage']['total_usage']