diff --git a/heka/meta/sphinx.yml b/heka/meta/sphinx.yml
index 0fec9ed..176da9a 100644
--- a/heka/meta/sphinx.yml
+++ b/heka/meta/sphinx.yml
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
       param:
         version:
           name: "Version"
-          value: {{ salt['cmd.run']("hekad --version") }}
+          value: "{{ salt['cmd.run']('hekad --version 2>/dev/null || echo unknown') }}"
   {%- endif %}
   {%- if pillar.heka.log_collector is defined %}
     log_collector:
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
       param:
         version:
           name: "Version"
-          value: {{ salt['cmd.run']("hekad --version") }}
+          value: "{{ salt['cmd.run']('hekad --version 2>/dev/null || echo unknown') }}"
   {%- endif %}
   {%- if pillar.heka.metric_collector is defined %}
     metric_collector:
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
       param:
         version:
           name: "Version"
-          value: {{ salt['cmd.run']("hekad --version") }}
+          value: "{{ salt['cmd.run']('hekad --version 2>/dev/null || echo unknown') }}"
   {%- endif %}
   {%- if pillar.heka.aggregator_collector is defined %}
     aggregator:
@@ -32,5 +32,5 @@
       param:
         version:
           name: "Version"
-          value: {{ salt['cmd.run']("hekad --version") }}
+          value: "{{ salt['cmd.run']('hekad --version 2>/dev/null || echo unknown') }}"
   {%- endif %}