diff --git a/load_vars.rb b/load_vars.rb
index bebe4d8..b39df27 100644
--- a/load_vars.rb
+++ b/load_vars.rb
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ module Puppet::Parser::Functions
       raise(Puppet::ParseError,
         "Data in the file `%s' is not a hash" % file) unless data.is_a?(Hash)
 
-      data = data[key] if key and data[key].is_a?(Hash)
+      data = (key and data[key].is_a?(Hash) ? data[key] : {})
     end
 
     data.each { |param, value| setvar(param, strinterp(value)) }