diff --git a/ddclient.in b/ddclient.in
index 2cd0162..2bc470d 100755
--- a/ddclient.in
+++ b/ddclient.in
@@ -2565,7 +2565,7 @@ sub check_value {
     } elsif (!defined($value) && $required) {
         # None of the types have 'undef' as a valid value, so check definedness once here for
         # convenience.
-        die("$type is required\n");
+        return undef;
 
     } elsif ($type eq T_DELAY) {
         $value = interval($value);