diff --git a/bin/report/render/rml2pdf/trml2pdf.py b/bin/report/render/rml2pdf/trml2pdf.py
index 6e52896f493..d73b5068ce0 100644
--- a/bin/report/render/rml2pdf/trml2pdf.py
+++ b/bin/report/render/rml2pdf/trml2pdf.py
@@ -216,7 +216,8 @@ class _rml_canvas(object):
             self.canvas.setTitle(self.title)
 
     def _textual(self, node, x=0, y=0):
-        rc = utils._process_text(self, node.text.encode('utf-8') or '')
+        text = node.text and node.text.encode('utf-8') or ''
+        rc = utils._process_text(self, text)
         for n in node:
             if n.tag == 'seq':
                 from reportlab.lib.sequencer import getSequencer