diff --git a/thirdparty/veloc/FileIOVELOC.cxx b/thirdparty/veloc/FileIOVELOC.cxx
index 82e920e6ca0279a3c69e7ca7639cd51245464eb1..e0114c3a620044c812927f1582496bd5e904f0a5 100644
--- a/thirdparty/veloc/FileIOVELOC.cxx
+++ b/thirdparty/veloc/FileIOVELOC.cxx
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@
 static std::string get_veloc_cfg() {
     char *ptr = getenv("GENERICIO_USE_VELOC");
     if (ptr == NULL)
-	FATAL("GENERICIO_USE_VELOC environment variable missing, must point to a valid VELOC configuration file");
-    return std::string(ptr);
+	return "";
+    return ptr;
 }
 
 namespace gio {