diff --git a/inc/status.inc b/inc/status.inc
index b36f4b7c..fc05420a 100755
--- a/inc/status.inc
+++ b/inc/status.inc
@@ -928,7 +928,7 @@ REPLSTART(){
 	fi
 	echo "HERE2: ${skip} - ${!PH}"
 	
-	if [ ${skip} -eq 0 ]; then
+	if [ ${skip} -eq 0 ] && [ "${!PH}" != "" ]; then
 		echo "not skipped"
 		PH_CMD="ssh -q -o ConnectTimeout=3 -o ConnectionAttempts=1 root@${!PH}"
 		var=${NODETYPE}_REPL_CHECK[@]