diff --git a/app/controllers/static_controller.rb b/app/controllers/static_controller.rb
index 7d6d37d2a3f..7c69db5ef26 100644
--- a/app/controllers/static_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/static_controller.rb
@@ -143,6 +143,7 @@ class StaticController < ApplicationController
           rescue => e
             AdminDashboardData.add_problem_message('dashboard.bad_favicon_url', 1800)
             Rails.logger.warn("Failed to fetch faivcon #{favicon.url}: #{e}\n#{e.backtrace}")
+            ""
           ensure
             file&.unlink
           end