diff --git a/adafruit_minimqtt/adafruit_minimqtt.py b/adafruit_minimqtt/adafruit_minimqtt.py
index 656c8c0a..1a27a8e3 100755
--- a/adafruit_minimqtt/adafruit_minimqtt.py
+++ b/adafruit_minimqtt/adafruit_minimqtt.py
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ def will_set(self, topic=None, payload=None, qos=0, retain=False):
         if self._is_connected:
             raise MMQTTException("Last Will should only be called before connect().")
         if payload is None:
-            raise MMQTTException("Message can not be None.")
+            payload = ""
         if isinstance(payload, (int, float, str)):
             payload = str(payload).encode()
         else: