diff --git a/jetpack-beta.php b/jetpack-beta.php
index 3a6bd2d0bff78..af85b1665b4fe 100644
--- a/jetpack-beta.php
+++ b/jetpack-beta.php
@@ -1036,7 +1036,10 @@ static function run_autoupdate() {
 			if ( empty( $admin_email ) ) {
 				return;
 			}
-			$site_title = ! empty( get_bloginfo( 'name' ) ) ? get_bloginfo( 'name' ) : get_site_url();
+			// Calling empty() on a function return value crashes in PHP < 5.5.
+			// Thus we assign the return value explicitly and then check with empty().
+			$bloginfo_name = get_bloginfo( 'name' );
+			$site_title = ! empty( $bloginfo_name ) ? get_bloginfo( 'name' ) : get_site_url();
 			$what_updated = 'Jetpack Beta Tester Plugin';
 			$subject = sprintf( __( '[%s] Autoupdated Jetpack Beta Tester', 'jetpack-beta' ), $site_title );
 			if ( in_array( JETPACK_DEV_PLUGIN_FILE, $plugins ) ) {