diff --git a/clusterman/utils.py b/clusterman/utils.py
index 8c24498..a0095b3 100755
--- a/clusterman/utils.py
+++ b/clusterman/utils.py
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@ def ssh_exec(host,command,use_key=True):
     if use_key and len(key_path) > 0:
         output=subprocess.check_output(["ssh","-o", "StrictHostKeyChecking=no", "-o", "PasswordAuthentication=no", "-i", CONF["ssh"]["key_path"],"{}@{}".format(user,host), command])
         return output.decode("utf-8")
+    else if use_key:
+        print("Configuration variable \"key_path\" is not set")
+        sys.exit(1)
     else:
         output=subprocess.check_output(["ssh","-o", "StrictHostKeyChecking=no", "{}@{}".format(user,host), command])
         return output.decode("utf-8")