diff --git a/layouts/_default/rss.xml b/layouts/_default/rss.xml
index a65af260..2ee5d3d4 100644
--- a/layouts/_default/rss.xml
+++ b/layouts/_default/rss.xml
@@ -105,7 +105,9 @@
                     {{ $description = .Description | markdownify}}
                 {{ end }}
 
-                <description>{{ printf "<![CDATA[%s]]>" $description | safeHTML }}</description>
+                {{ with $description }}
+                    <description>{{ printf "<![CDATA[%s]]>" . | safeHTML }}</description>
+                {{ end }}
 
                 {{ if .Params.id }}
                     {{ $guid = .Params.id }}