diff --git a/src/settings.js b/src/settings.js
index 53857d293..f65d8891a 100644
--- a/src/settings.js
+++ b/src/settings.js
@@ -389,7 +389,7 @@ function getBackupConfig(callback) {
         var tmp = JSON.parse(value);
 
         // ensure we have a proper retention policy, the rest api checks for validity on settings at the moment
-        if (!tmp.retentionPolicy || Object.keys(tmp.retentionPolicy) === 0) tmp.retentionPolicy = gDefaults[exports.BACKUP_CONFIG_KEY].retentionPolicy;
+        if (!tmp.retentionPolicy || Object.keys(tmp.retentionPolicy).length === 0) tmp.retentionPolicy = gDefaults[exports.BACKUP_CONFIG_KEY].retentionPolicy;
 
         callback(null, tmp); // provider, token, password, region, prefix, bucket
     });