diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/datanode/DataNode.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/datanode/DataNode.java
index d64502b6dd..9c77299e50 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/datanode/DataNode.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/datanode/DataNode.java
@@ -3628,7 +3628,10 @@ public String getBPServiceActorInfo() {
    */
   @Override // DataNodeMXBean
   public String getVolumeInfo() {
-    Preconditions.checkNotNull(data, "Storage not yet initialized");
+    if (data == null) {
+      LOG.debug("Storage not yet initialized.");
+      return "";
+    }
     return JSON.toString(data.getVolumeInfoMap());
   }