diff --git a/plugins/rtorrent/rtom_allsessions_vol b/plugins/rtorrent/rtom_allsessions_vol
index d067fde7..37b8a10e 100755
--- a/plugins/rtorrent/rtom_allsessions_vol
+++ b/plugins/rtorrent/rtom_allsessions_vol
@@ -104,9 +104,12 @@ sub rtorrent_version_lower_than {
 		}
 		close (SOCK);
 	}
-	return version->parse($rtorrent_version) < version->parse($_[0]);
+        if(defined $_[0]){
+                return version->parse($rtorrent_version) < version->parse($_[0]);
+        }
 }
-
+# init rtorrent_version
+rtorrent_version_lower_than();
 
 my $pattern     = qr/<value><string>([A-Z0-9]+)<\/string><\/value>/;
 
diff --git a/plugins/rtorrent/rtom_vol b/plugins/rtorrent/rtom_vol
index e121aa39..1ea5678f 100755
--- a/plugins/rtorrent/rtom_vol
+++ b/plugins/rtorrent/rtom_vol
@@ -106,8 +106,12 @@ sub rtorrent_version_lower_than {
 		}
 		close (SOCK);
 	}
-	return version->parse($rtorrent_version) < version->parse($_[0]);
+	if(defined $_[0]){
+		return version->parse($rtorrent_version) < version->parse($_[0]);
+	}
 }
+# init rtorrent_version
+rtorrent_version_lower_than();
 
 my $pattern	= qr/<value><string>([A-Z0-9]+)<\/string><\/value>/;