diff --git a/lib/ansible/module_utils/facts/virtual/linux.py b/lib/ansible/module_utils/facts/virtual/linux.py
index a0ad54584b3..fece8d8f22b 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/module_utils/facts/virtual/linux.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/module_utils/facts/virtual/linux.py
@@ -236,13 +236,15 @@ class LinuxVirtual(Virtual):
         # In older Linux Kernel versions, /sys filesystem is not available
         # dmidecode is the safest option to parse virtualization related values
         dmi_bin = self.module.get_bin_path('dmidecode')
-        (rc, out, err) = self.module.run_command('%s -s system-product-name' % dmi_bin)
-        if rc == 0:
-            # Strip out commented lines (specific dmidecode output)
-            vendor_name = ''.join([line.strip() for line in out.splitlines() if not line.startswith('#')])
-            if vendor_name in ['VMware Virtual Platform', 'VMware7,1']:
-                virtual_facts['virtualization_type'] = 'VMware'
-                virtual_facts['virtualization_role'] = 'guest'
+        # We still want to continue even if dmidecode is not available
+        if dmi_bin is not None:
+            (rc, out, err) = self.module.run_command('%s -s system-product-name' % dmi_bin)
+            if rc == 0:
+                # Strip out commented lines (specific dmidecode output)
+                vendor_name = ''.join([line.strip() for line in out.splitlines() if not line.startswith('#')])
+                if vendor_name.startwith('VMware'):
+                    virtual_facts['virtualization_type'] = 'VMware'
+                    virtual_facts['virtualization_role'] = 'guest'
 
         # If none of the above matches, return 'NA' for virtualization_type
         # and virtualization_role. This allows for proper grouping.