diff --git a/src/pretix/plugins/ticketoutputpdf/ticketoutput.py b/src/pretix/plugins/ticketoutputpdf/ticketoutput.py
index 6f1bbe9bca..de13139e1b 100644
--- a/src/pretix/plugins/ticketoutputpdf/ticketoutput.py
+++ b/src/pretix/plugins/ticketoutputpdf/ticketoutput.py
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ class PdfTicketOutput(BaseTicketOutput):
         if o['content'] == 'other':
             return o['text'].replace("\n", "<br/>\n")
         elif o['content'].startswith('meta:'):
-            return ev.meta_data.get(o['content'][5:])
+            return ev.meta_data.get(o['content'][5:]) or ''
         elif o['content'] == 'order':
             return order.code
         elif o['content'] == 'item':