diff --git a/vnt-cli/src/config/mod.rs b/vnt-cli/src/config/mod.rs
index d43ace2..a2c733f 100644
--- a/vnt-cli/src/config/mod.rs
+++ b/vnt-cli/src/config/mod.rs
@@ -175,17 +175,17 @@ pub fn get_device_id() -> String {
     if let Some(id) = common::identifier::get_unique_identifier() {
         id
     } else {
-        let id = uuid::Uuid::new_v4().to_string();
         let path_buf = match crate::app_home() {
             Ok(path_buf) => path_buf.join("device-id"),
             Err(e) => {
                 log::warn!("{:?}", e);
-                return id;
+                return String::new();
             }
         };
         if let Ok(id) = std::fs::read_to_string(path_buf.as_path()) {
             id
         } else {
+            let id = uuid::Uuid::new_v4().to_string();
             let _ = std::fs::write(path_buf, &id);
             id
         }