diff --git a/src/version/base.js b/src/version/base.js
index 9089e29..c9e142a 100644
--- a/src/version/base.js
+++ b/src/version/base.js
@@ -25,9 +25,7 @@ module.exports = class BaseVersioning {
    * @return {string}
    */
   read = () => {
-    if (fs.existsSync(this.fileLocation)) {
-      return fs.readFileSync(this.fileLocation, 'utf8')
-    }
+    return fs.existsSync(this.fileLocation) ? fs.readFileSync(this.fileLocation, 'utf8') : ''
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/src/version/json.js b/src/version/json.js
index 662101f..8125079 100644
--- a/src/version/json.js
+++ b/src/version/json.js
@@ -12,15 +12,10 @@ module.exports = new (class Json extends BaseVersioning {
    * @return {*}
    */
   bump = (releaseType) => {
-    let jsonContent = {}
-    let oldVersion
-
     // Read the file
     const fileContent = this.read()
-    if (fileContent) {
-      jsonContent = JSON.parse(fileContent)
-      oldVersion = objectPath.get(jsonContent, this.versionPath)
-    }
+    const jsonContent = JSON.parse(fileContent)
+    const oldVersion = objectPath.get(jsonContent, this.versionPath, null)
 
     // Get the new version
     this.newVersion = bumpVersion(
diff --git a/src/version/toml.js b/src/version/toml.js
index 734ff8e..ff889ee 100644
--- a/src/version/toml.js
+++ b/src/version/toml.js
@@ -13,15 +13,10 @@ module.exports = new (class Toml extends BaseVersioning{
    * @return {*}
    */
   bump = (releaseType) => {
-    let tomlContent = {}
-    let oldVersion
-
     // Read the file
     const fileContent = this.read()
-    if (fileContent) {
-      tomlContent = toml.parse(fileContent)
-      oldVersion = objectPath.get(tomlContent, this.versionPath)
-    }
+    const tomlContent = toml.parse(fileContent)
+    const oldVersion = objectPath.get(tomlContent, this.versionPath, null)
 
     // Get the new version
     this.newVersion = bumpVersion(
@@ -29,11 +24,11 @@ module.exports = new (class Toml extends BaseVersioning{
       oldVersion,
     )
 
-    // Get the name of where the version is in
-    const versionName = this.versionPath.split('.').pop()
-
     // Update the file
-    if (fileContent) {
+    if (oldVersion) {
+      // Get the name of where the version is in
+      const versionName = this.versionPath.split('.').pop()
+
       this.update(
         // We use replace instead of yaml.stringify so we can preserve white spaces and comments
         fileContent.replace(
diff --git a/src/version/yaml.js b/src/version/yaml.js
index 133d9c1..c29b9b2 100644
--- a/src/version/yaml.js
+++ b/src/version/yaml.js
@@ -13,15 +13,10 @@ module.exports = new (class Yaml extends BaseVersioning{
    * @return {*}
    */
   bump = (releaseType) => {
-    let yamlContent = {}
-    let oldVersion
-
     // Read the file
     const fileContent = this.read()
-    if (fileContent) {
-      yamlContent = yaml.parse(fileContent)
-      oldVersion = objectPath.get(yamlContent, this.versionPath)
-    }
+    const yamlContent = yaml.parse(fileContent) || {}
+    const oldVersion = objectPath.get(yamlContent, this.versionPath, null)
 
     // Get the new version
     this.newVersion = bumpVersion(
@@ -29,11 +24,11 @@ module.exports = new (class Yaml extends BaseVersioning{
       oldVersion,
     )
 
-    // Get the name of where the version is in
-    const versionName = this.versionPath.split('.').pop()
-
     // Update the file
-    if (fileContent) {
+    if (oldVersion) {
+      // Get the name of where the version is in
+      const versionName = this.versionPath.split('.').pop()
+
       this.update(
         // We use replace instead of yaml.stringify so we can preserve white spaces and comments
         fileContent.replace(