diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/virt/hyperv/test_vmutils.py b/nova/tests/unit/virt/hyperv/test_vmutils.py
index b4ea793d9521..2925798d4335 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/virt/hyperv/test_vmutils.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/virt/hyperv/test_vmutils.py
@@ -645,7 +645,9 @@ class VMUtilsTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
         attrs = {'ElementName': 'fake_name',
                  'Notes': '4f54fb69-d3a2-45b7-bb9b-b6e6b3d893b3'}
         vs.configure_mock(**attrs)
-        self._vmutils._conn.Msvm_VirtualSystemSettingData.return_value = [vs]
+        vs2 = mock.MagicMock(ElementName='fake_name2', Notes=None)
+        self._vmutils._conn.Msvm_VirtualSystemSettingData.return_value = [vs,
+                                                                          vs2]
         response = self._vmutils.list_instance_notes()
 
         self.assertEqual([(attrs['ElementName'], [attrs['Notes']])], response)
diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/virt/hyperv/test_vmutilsv2.py b/nova/tests/unit/virt/hyperv/test_vmutilsv2.py
index aa57ffc466bb..dd22e1d2fa24 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/virt/hyperv/test_vmutilsv2.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/virt/hyperv/test_vmutilsv2.py
@@ -140,7 +140,9 @@ class VMUtilsV2TestCase(test_vmutils.VMUtilsTestCase):
         attrs = {'ElementName': 'fake_name',
                  'Notes': ['4f54fb69-d3a2-45b7-bb9b-b6e6b3d893b3']}
         vs.configure_mock(**attrs)
-        self._vmutils._conn.Msvm_VirtualSystemSettingData.return_value = [vs]
+        vs2 = mock.MagicMock(ElementName='fake_name2', Notes=None)
+        self._vmutils._conn.Msvm_VirtualSystemSettingData.return_value = [vs,
+                                                                          vs2]
         response = self._vmutils.list_instance_notes()
 
         self.assertEqual([(attrs['ElementName'], attrs['Notes'])], response)
diff --git a/nova/virt/hyperv/vmutils.py b/nova/virt/hyperv/vmutils.py
index 686c288183fa..c65934ba4ab1 100644
--- a/nova/virt/hyperv/vmutils.py
+++ b/nova/virt/hyperv/vmutils.py
@@ -116,8 +116,9 @@ class VMUtils(object):
         for vs in self._conn.Msvm_VirtualSystemSettingData(
                 ['ElementName', 'Notes'],
                 SettingType=self._VIRTUAL_SYSTEM_CURRENT_SETTINGS):
-            instance_notes.append((vs.ElementName,
-                                  [v for v in vs.Notes.split('\n') if v]))
+            if vs.Notes is not None:
+                instance_notes.append(
+                    (vs.ElementName, [v for v in vs.Notes.split('\n') if v]))
 
         return instance_notes
 
diff --git a/nova/virt/hyperv/vmutilsv2.py b/nova/virt/hyperv/vmutilsv2.py
index 145a618e9da1..7423848ab820 100644
--- a/nova/virt/hyperv/vmutilsv2.py
+++ b/nova/virt/hyperv/vmutilsv2.py
@@ -80,7 +80,9 @@ class VMUtilsV2(vmutils.VMUtils):
         for vs in self._conn.Msvm_VirtualSystemSettingData(
                 ['ElementName', 'Notes'],
                 VirtualSystemType=self._VIRTUAL_SYSTEM_TYPE_REALIZED):
-            instance_notes.append((vs.ElementName, [v for v in vs.Notes if v]))
+            if vs.Notes is not None:
+                instance_notes.append(
+                    (vs.ElementName, [v for v in vs.Notes if v]))
 
         return instance_notes