diff --git a/youtube_dl/extractor/brightcove.py b/youtube_dl/extractor/brightcove.py
index d625b802f..9f63ab79c 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/extractor/brightcove.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/extractor/brightcove.py
@@ -519,7 +519,7 @@ class BrightcoveNewIE(InfoExtractor):
             if not embed:      embed       = attrs.get('data-embed')
 
             # According to [5] data-video-id may be prefixed with 'ref:'
-            video_id = video_id.rpartition('ref:')[2]
+            if video_id: video_id = video_id.rpartition('ref:')[2]
 
             if video_id and account_id and player_id and embed:
                 entries.append(