diff --git a/src/manifest.c b/src/manifest.c
index dc6ed5b..80382ee 100644
--- a/src/manifest.c
+++ b/src/manifest.c
@@ -53,17 +53,9 @@
 	return ptr;
 }
 
-static enum manifest_return_code read_string(const struct fdt_node *node,
-					     const char *property, char *out,
-					     rsize_t out_sz)
+static enum manifest_return_code extract_string(const char *data, uint32_t size,
+						char *out, rsize_t out_sz)
 {
-	const char *data;
-	uint32_t size;
-
-	if (!fdt_read_property(node, property, &data, &size)) {
-		return MANIFEST_ERROR_PROPERTY_NOT_FOUND;
-	}
-
 	/*
 	 * Require that the value contains exactly one NULL character and that
 	 * it is the last byte.
@@ -81,6 +73,39 @@
 	return MANIFEST_SUCCESS;
 }
 
+static enum manifest_return_code read_string(const struct fdt_node *node,
+					     const char *property, char *out,
+					     rsize_t out_sz)
+{
+	const char *data;
+	uint32_t size;
+
+	if (!fdt_read_property(node, property, &data, &size)) {
+		return MANIFEST_ERROR_PROPERTY_NOT_FOUND;
+	}
+
+	return extract_string(data, size, out, out_sz);
+}
+
+static enum manifest_return_code read_optional_string(
+	const struct fdt_node *node, const char *property, char *out,
+	rsize_t out_sz)
+{
+	const char *data;
+	uint32_t size;
+
+	if (!fdt_read_property(node, property, &data, &size)) {
+		if (out_sz < 1) {
+			return MANIFEST_ERROR_STRING_TOO_LONG;
+		}
+
+		*out = '\0';
+		return MANIFEST_SUCCESS;
+	}
+
+	return extract_string(data, size, out, out_sz);
+}
+
 static enum manifest_return_code read_uint64(const struct fdt_node *node,
 					     const char *property,
 					     uint64_t *out)
@@ -202,10 +227,9 @@
 {
 	TRY(read_string(node, "debug_name", vm->debug_name,
 			sizeof(vm->debug_name)));
+	TRY(read_optional_string(node, "kernel_filename", vm->kernel_filename,
+				 sizeof(vm->kernel_filename)));
 	if (vm_id != HF_PRIMARY_VM_ID) {
-		TRY(read_string(node, "kernel_filename",
-				vm->secondary.kernel_filename,
-				sizeof(vm->secondary.kernel_filename)));
 		TRY(read_uint64(node, "mem_size", &vm->secondary.mem_size));
 		TRY(read_uint16(node, "vcpu_count", &vm->secondary.vcpu_count));
 	}