diff --git a/tds/src/main/java/thredds/core/DatasetManager.java b/tds/src/main/java/thredds/core/DatasetManager.java
index 203d3f947d..71df3405b6 100644
--- a/tds/src/main/java/thredds/core/DatasetManager.java
+++ b/tds/src/main/java/thredds/core/DatasetManager.java
@@ -439,12 +439,8 @@ public CoverageCollection openCoverageDataset(HttpServletRequest req, HttpServle
         // and pass that to CoverageDataset
         DtCoverageDataset gds = new DtCoverageDataset(NetcdfDatasets.openDataset(location));
         if (!gds.getGrids().isEmpty()) {
-          Formatter errlog = new Formatter();
-          FeatureDatasetCoverage result = DtCoverageAdapter.factory(gds, errlog);
-          if (result != null)
-            opt = Optional.of(result);
-          else
-            opt = Optional.empty(errlog.toString());
+          FeatureDatasetCoverage result = DtCoverageAdapter.factory(gds, new Formatter());
+          opt = Optional.of(result);
         }
       }