diff --git a/tunnelkeeper b/tunnelkeeper
index 6d414b5..0231433 100755
--- a/tunnelkeeper
+++ b/tunnelkeeper
@@ -35,9 +35,9 @@ function dbg () {
 case "$1" in
   FORKSTART )
     echo -n $$ > "$BASEDIR/var/${2}.connected"
-    if [[ grep -c "^$2" $PWCONF ]]; then
-      pass=$(awk "/^$2/ {print \$2}" ${PWCONF})
-      screen -d -m -S "tk${2}" "$0 FORKSCREEN $2"
+    if [[ $(grep -c "^$2" $PWCONF) -gt 0 ]]; then
+      pass=$(awk "/^$2/ {print \$2}" ${PWCONF}) # password needed
+      screen -d -m -S "tk${2}" $0 FORKSCREEN $2
       while [[ -e "$BASEDIR/var/${2}.connected" ]]; do
         sleep 5
         if [[ -f "$BASEDIR/var/${2}.screen" ]]; then
@@ -46,9 +46,8 @@ case "$1" in
           rm -f "$BASEDIR/var/${2}.screen"
         fi
       done
-    else
+    else # passwordless auth
       while [[ -e "$BASEDIR/var/${2}.connected" ]]; do
-        # passwordless auth
         ssh -F "${SSHCONF}" $dbgopt -N $2 2>&1 | dbg
         sleep 5
       done