diff --git a/bpmn/so-bpmn-tasks/src/main/java/org/onap/so/bpmn/infrastructure/workflow/tasks/WorkflowActionBBFailure.java b/bpmn/so-bpmn-tasks/src/main/java/org/onap/so/bpmn/infrastructure/workflow/tasks/WorkflowActionBBFailure.java
index 35ceef0..4d2f9fd 100644
--- a/bpmn/so-bpmn-tasks/src/main/java/org/onap/so/bpmn/infrastructure/workflow/tasks/WorkflowActionBBFailure.java
+++ b/bpmn/so-bpmn-tasks/src/main/java/org/onap/so/bpmn/infrastructure/workflow/tasks/WorkflowActionBBFailure.java
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@
     }
 
     private Optional<String> retrieveErrorMessage(DelegateExecution execution) {
-        String errorMsg = "";
+        String errorMsg = null;
         try {
             WorkflowException exception = (WorkflowException) execution.getVariable("WorkflowException");
             if (exception != null && (exception.getErrorMessage() != null || !exception.getErrorMessage().equals(""))) {
@@ -134,6 +134,10 @@
             if (errorMsg == null || errorMsg.equals("")) {
                 errorMsg = (String) execution.getVariable("WorkflowExceptionErrorMessage");
             }
+            if (errorMsg == null) {
+                throw new IllegalStateException(
+                        "could not find WorkflowException or WorkflowExceptionErrorMessage in execution");
+            }
             return Optional.of(errorMsg);
         } catch (Exception ex) {
             logger.error("Failed to extract workflow exception from execution.", ex);