diff --git a/src/sonic-bgpcfgd/bgpcfgd/static_rt_timer.py b/src/sonic-bgpcfgd/bgpcfgd/static_rt_timer.py
index 0af4bc26d040..f9b5993fd1f9 100644
--- a/src/sonic-bgpcfgd/bgpcfgd/static_rt_timer.py
+++ b/src/sonic-bgpcfgd/bgpcfgd/static_rt_timer.py
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@ def __init__(self):
 
     def set_timer(self):
         """ Check for custom route expiry time in STATIC_ROUTE:EXPIRY_TIME """
+        keys = self.db.keys(self.db.APPL_DB, "STATIC_ROUTE_EXPIRY_TIME")
+        if len(keys) == 0:
+            return
         timer = self.db.get(self.db.APPL_DB, "STATIC_ROUTE_EXPIRY_TIME", "time")
         if timer is not None:
             timer = int(timer)