diff --git a/clusterman/utils.py b/clusterman/utils.py
index c11883d..8c24498 100755
--- a/clusterman/utils.py
+++ b/clusterman/utils.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ from clusterman.config import CONF
 def ssh_exec(host,command,use_key=True):
     user="root" if len(CONF["ssh"]["user"]) <= 0 else CONF["ssh"]["user"]
     key_path=CONF["ssh"]["key_path"]
-    if use_key:
+    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: