diff --git a/src/nctool/cli.py b/src/nctool/cli.py
index 18b59e359f0b5b4ecf46c135bad4079a3da53aba..ad4d289fc32a84c3af16a0ad7d18969f1c6f18e0 100644
--- a/src/nctool/cli.py
+++ b/src/nctool/cli.py
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ def get_models(host, port, username, destination):
             assert any(
                 [el.text == "NETCONF" for el in schema.findall(prefix + "location")]
             )
-            if version is not None:
+            if version is not None and version != "":
                 v = f"@{version}"
             else:
                 v = ""