diff --git a/CIME/XML/env_mach_pes.py b/CIME/XML/env_mach_pes.py
index d2fb5fe471a..b7cfe9331d6 100644
--- a/CIME/XML/env_mach_pes.py
+++ b/CIME/XML/env_mach_pes.py
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ def get_value(
                 max_cputasks_per_gpu_node = self.get_value("MAX_CPUTASKS_PER_GPU_NODE")
             if ngpus_per_node is None:
                 ngpus_per_node = self.get_value("NGPUS_PER_NODE")
-            if value is not None and value < 0:
+            if (ngpus_per_node and value) and value < 0:
                 if ngpus_per_node > 0:
                     value = -1 * value * max_cputasks_per_gpu_node
                 else: