diff --git a/functions/clean_empty.pp b/functions/clean_empty.pp
index 8e71ca78..e146ae54 100644
--- a/functions/clean_empty.pp
+++ b/functions/clean_empty.pp
@@ -4,15 +4,13 @@ function datadog_agent::clean_empty (
 ) {
   if $var.is_a(Array) {
     $_var = $var.map |$item| { datadog_agent::clean_empty($item) }
-    $result = $_var.filter |$item| { !$item.empty }
+    $_var.filter |$item| { !$item.empty }
 
   } elsif $var.is_a(Hash) {
     $_var = Hash($var.map |$key, $value| { Tuple([$key, datadog_agent::clean_empty($value)]) })
-    $result = $_var.filter |$key, $value| { !$value.empty }
+    $_var.filter |$key, $value| { !$value.empty }
 
-  } else {
-    $result = $var
+  } elsif !$var.empty {
+    $var
   }
-
-  $result
 }