diff --git a/resources/project.rb b/resources/project.rb
index bbc777c..1780ef2 100644
--- a/resources/project.rb
+++ b/resources/project.rb
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 attribute :user, :kind_of => String, :default => 'root'
 attribute :group, :kind_of => String, :default => 'root'
 attribute :umask, :kind_of => [String, Integer], :default => '0002'
-attribute :environment, :kind_of => Hash, :default => nil
+attribute :environment, :kind_of => Hash, :default => {}
 
 def initialize(*args)
   super