diff --git a/lib/workers/repository/init/config.ts b/lib/workers/repository/init/config.ts
index c15916cf44138e972f2a69a8270edef5e8f156a0..2d4f1f1a422026c9918fce1fd9879b3e66d0e421 100644
--- a/lib/workers/repository/init/config.ts
+++ b/lib/workers/repository/init/config.ts
@@ -57,14 +57,6 @@ export async function mergeRenovateConfig(
   } else {
     let renovateConfig = await readLocalFile(configFile, 'utf8');
     // istanbul ignore if
-    if (renovateConfig === null) {
-      logger.warn('Fetching renovate config returns null');
-      throw new ExternalHostError(
-        Error('Fetching renovate config returns null'),
-        config.platform
-      );
-    }
-    // istanbul ignore if
     if (!renovateConfig.length) {
       renovateConfig = '{}';
     }