diff --git a/hack/deploy.sh b/hack/deploy.sh
index 6719baada1..ff99acf466 100755
--- a/hack/deploy.sh
+++ b/hack/deploy.sh
@@ -8,10 +8,11 @@ set -euo pipefail
 
 ./hack/populate_secrets.sh
 
+ssh_cmd="ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new"
+
 if [ ! -z ${2+x} ]; then ssh_cmd="$ssh_cmd $2"; fi
 
 system="$(nix run nixpkgs.jq -c jq -r ".[\"${1}\"]" systems.json)"
 echo System is $system
 
-ssh_cmd="ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new"
 $ssh_cmd -t "deployer@$1" switch-prebuilt "$system"