diff -r 84ef29ccac56 -r 00860d9caf4d src/hotspot/share/jfr/dcmd/jfrDcmds.cpp
--- a/src/hotspot/share/jfr/dcmd/jfrDcmds.cpp	Fri Aug 23 18:47:55 2019 +0200
+++ b/src/hotspot/share/jfr/dcmd/jfrDcmds.cpp	Sat Aug 24 14:30:27 2019 +0200
@@ -444,7 +444,13 @@
 
   jobjectArray settings = NULL;
   if (_settings.is_set()) {
-    const int length = _settings.value()->array()->length();
+    int length = _settings.value()->array()->length();
+    if (length == 1) {
+      const char* c_str = _settings.value()->array()->at(0);
+      if (strcmp(c_str, "none") == 0) {
+        length = 0;
+      }
+    }
     settings = JfrJavaSupport::new_string_array(length, CHECK);
     assert(settings != NULL, "invariant");
     for (int i = 0; i < length; ++i) {