diff --git a/apis/chef/src/main/java/org/jclouds/chef/functions/GroupToBootScript.java b/apis/chef/src/main/java/org/jclouds/chef/functions/GroupToBootScript.java
index fad4fb6edf..9920de5e6e 100644
--- a/apis/chef/src/main/java/org/jclouds/chef/functions/GroupToBootScript.java
+++ b/apis/chef/src/main/java/org/jclouds/chef/functions/GroupToBootScript.java
@@ -121,7 +121,6 @@ public class GroupToBootScript {
    }
 
    private Statement createAttributesFile(String chefBootFile, BootstrapConfig config) {
-      String attributes = config.getAttributes().toString();
       String runlist = Joiner.on(',').join(transform(config.getRunList(), new Function<String, String>() {
          @Override
          public String apply(String input) {
@@ -129,11 +128,17 @@ public class GroupToBootScript {
          }
       }));
 
-      // Append the runlist to the json attributes
       StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
-      // Strip the json ending character
-      sb.append(attributes.trim().substring(0, attributes.length() - 1));
-      sb.append(",\"run_list\":[").append(runlist).append("]");
+      sb.append("{");
+
+      if (config.getAttributes() != null) {
+         String attributes = config.getAttributes().toString();
+         // Omit the opening and closing json characters
+         sb.append(attributes.trim().substring(1, attributes.length() - 1));
+         sb.append(",");
+      }
+
+      sb.append("\"run_list\":[").append(runlist).append("]");
       sb.append("}");
 
       return createOrOverwriteFile(chefBootFile, Collections.singleton(sb.toString()));
diff --git a/apis/chef/src/test/java/org/jclouds/chef/functions/GroupToBootScriptTest.java b/apis/chef/src/test/java/org/jclouds/chef/functions/GroupToBootScriptTest.java
index 9cf0690004..dd4302440d 100644
--- a/apis/chef/src/test/java/org/jclouds/chef/functions/GroupToBootScriptTest.java
+++ b/apis/chef/src/test/java/org/jclouds/chef/functions/GroupToBootScriptTest.java
@@ -204,6 +204,24 @@ public class GroupToBootScriptTest {
       verify(validatorKey);
    }
 
+   public void testNoAttribtues() throws IOException {
+      Optional<PrivateKey> validatorCredential = Optional.of(createMock(PrivateKey.class));
+      BootstrapConfig config = BootstrapConfig.builder()
+            .environment("env").runList(new RunListBuilder().addRecipe("apache2").addRole("webserver").build()).build();
+
+      GroupToBootScript fn = groupToBootScriptFor(config, validatorCredential, true);
+
+      PrivateKey validatorKey = validatorCredential.get();
+      expect(validatorKey.getEncoded()).andReturn(PemsTest.PRIVATE_KEY.getBytes());
+      replay(validatorKey);
+
+      assertEquals(fn.apply("foo", null).render(OsFamily.UNIX),
+            "setupPublicCurl || exit 1\ncurl -q -s -S -L --connect-timeout 10 --max-time 600 --retry 20 "
+                  + "-X GET  https://www.opscode.com/chef/install.sh |(bash)\n" + readContent("bootstrap-env-noattrs.sh"));
+
+      verify(validatorKey);
+   }
+
    public void testCustomNodeName() throws IOException {
       Optional<PrivateKey> validatorCredential = Optional.of(createMock(PrivateKey.class));
       BootstrapConfig config = BootstrapConfig.builder().attributes(new JsonBall("{\"tomcat6\":{\"ssl_port\":8433}}"))
diff --git a/apis/chef/src/test/resources/bootstrap-env-noattrs.sh b/apis/chef/src/test/resources/bootstrap-env-noattrs.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..fe0de79068
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apis/chef/src/test/resources/bootstrap-env-noattrs.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+mkdir -p /etc/chef
+cat > /etc/chef/client.rb <<-'END_OF_JCLOUDS_FILE'
+	require 'rubygems'
+	require 'ohai'
+	o = Ohai::System.new
+	o.all_plugins
+	node_name "foo-" + o[:ipaddress]
+	log_level :info
+	log_location STDOUT
+	validation_client_name "chef-validator"
+	chef_server_url "http://localhost:4000"
+	environment "env"
+END_OF_JCLOUDS_FILE
+cat > /etc/chef/validation.pem <<-'END_OF_JCLOUDS_FILE'
+	-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----
+	LS0tLS1CRUdJTiBSU0EgUFJJVkFURSBLRVktLS0tLQpNSUlFcFFJQkFBS0NBUUVB
+	eWIyWkpKcUdtMEtLUis4bmZRSk5zU2QrRjl0WE5NVjdDZk9jVzZqc3FzOEVaZ2lW
+	ClIwOWhEMUlZT2o0WXFNMHFKT05sZ3lnNHhSV2V3ZFNHN1FUUGoxbEpwVkFpZGE5
+	c1h5MitrenlhZ1pBMUFtME8KWmNicWI1aG9lSURnY1grZURhNzlzMHUwRG9tamNm
+	TzlFS2h2SExCeit6TSszUXFQUmtQVjhuWVRiZnMrSGpWegp6T1U2RDFCMFhSMytJ
+	UFpabDJBbldzMmQwcWhuU3RIY0RVdm5SVlEwUDQ4Mll3TjlWZ2NlT1p0cFB6MERD
+	S0VKCjVUeDVTVHViOGswL3p0L1ZBTUhRYWZMU3VRTUxkMnM0Wkx1T1pwdE4vL3VB
+	c1RteGlyZXFkMzd6KzhaVGRCYkoKOExFcEoraUNYdVNmbTVhVWg3aXc2b3h2VG9Z
+	MkFMNTMraksyVVFJREFRQUJBb0lCQVFEQTg4QjNpL3hXbjB2WApCVnhGYW1DWW9l
+	Y3VOakd3WFhrU3laZXc2MTZBK0VPQ3U0N2JoNGFUdXJkRmJZTDBZRmFBdGFXdnps
+	YU4yZUhnCkRiK0hEdVRlZkUyOStXa2NHazZTc2hQbWl6NVQwWE9DQUlDV3c2d1NW
+	RGtIbUd3UzRqWnZiQUZtN1c4bndHazkKWWh4Z3hGaVJuZ3N3SlpGb3BPTG9GNVdY
+	czJ0ZDhndUlZTnNsTXBvN3R1NTBpRm5CSHdLTzJac1BBazh0OW5uUwp4bERhdkty
+	dXltRW1xSENyMytkdGlvNWVhZW5KY3AzZmpvWEJRT0tVazNpcElJMjlYUkI4TnFl
+	Q1ZWLzdLeHdxCmNrcU9CRWJSd0JjbGNreUliRCtSaUFnS3ZPZWxPUmpFaUU5UjQy
+	dnVxdnhSQTZrOWtkOW83dXRsWDBBVXRwRW4KM2daYzZMZXBBb0dCQVA5YWVsNVk3
+	NStzSzJKSlVOT09oTzhhZTQ1Y2RzaWxwMnlJMFgrVUJhU3VRczIrZHlQcAprcEVI
+	QXhkNHBtbVN2bi84YzlUbEVaaHIrcVliQUJYVlBsRG5jeHBJdXcyQWpiazdzL1M0
+	WGFTS3NScXBYTDU3CnpqL1FPcUxrUms4K09WVjlxNmxNZVFOcUx0RWoxdTZKUHZp
+	WDcwUm8rRlF0UnR0Tk9ZYmZkUC9mQW9HQkFNcEEKWGpSNXdvVjVzVWIrUkVnOXZF
+	dVlvOFJTeU9hcnhxS0ZDSVhWVU5zTE94KzIyK0FLNCtDUXBidWVXTjdqb3RybApZ
+	RDZ1VDZzdldpM0FBQzdraVkwVUkvZmpWUFJDVWk4dFZvUVVFMFRhVTVWTElUYVlP
+	QitXL2JCYURFNE05NTYwCjFOdURXTzkwYmFBNWRmVTQ0aXV6dmEwMnJHSlhLOStu
+	UzNvOG5rL1BBb0dCQUxPTDZkam5EZTRtd0FhRzZKY28KY2Q0eHI4amt5UHpDUlp1
+	eUJDU0Jid3BoSVVYTGM3aERwclBreTA2NG5jSkQxVURtd0lka1hkL2ZwTWtnMlFt
+	QQovQ1VrNkxFRmpNaXNxSG9qT2FDTDlnUVpKUGhMTjVRVU4yeDFQSldHanMxdlFo
+	OFRreDBpVVVDT2E4YlFQWE5SCiszNE9Uc1c2VFVuYTRDU1pBeWNMZmhmZkFvR0JB
+	SWdnVnNlZkJDdnVRa0YwTmVVaG1EQ1JaZmhuZDh5NTVSSFIKMUhDdnFLSWxwdity
+	aGNYL3pteUJMdXRlb3BZeVJKUnNPaUUyRlcwMGk4K3JJUFJ1NFozUTVueWJ4N3cz
+	UHpWOQpvSE41UjViYUU5T3lJNEtwWld6dHBZWWl0WkY2N05jbkF2VlVMSEhPdlZK
+	UUduS1lmTEhKWW1ySkY3R0Exb2pNCkF1TWRGYmpGQW9HQVB4VWh4d0Z5OGdhcUJh
+	aEtVRVpuNEY4MUhGUDVpaEdoa1Q0UUw2QUZQTzJlK0poSUdqdVIKMjcrODVoY0Zx
+	UStISFZ0RnNtODFiL2ErUjdQNFV1Q1JnYzhlQ2p4UU1vSjFYbDRuN1ZialBiSE1u
+	SU4wUnl2ZApPNFpwV0RXWW5DTzAyMUpUT1VVT0o0Si95MDQxNkJ2a3cwejU5eTdz
+	Tlg3d0RCQkhIYksvWENjPQotLS0tLUVORCBSU0EgUFJJVkFURSBLRVktLS0tLQo=
+	-----END PRIVATE KEY-----
+	
+END_OF_JCLOUDS_FILE
+cat > /etc/chef/first-boot.json <<-'END_OF_JCLOUDS_FILE'
+	{"run_list":["recipe[apache2]","role[webserver]"]}
+END_OF_JCLOUDS_FILE
+chef-client -j /etc/chef/first-boot.json