diff --git a/tasks/main.yml b/tasks/main.yml
index bbccc81..bb24579 100644
--- a/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/tasks/main.yml
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
       owner: root
       group: "{{root_group}}"
       mode: 0600
+     when: admin_ssh_keys | length
 
   - name: create ssh host keys
     shell: "prefix=\"{{ rootpath }}\"; ssh-keygen -N \"\" -t ed25519 -f \"${prefix}/etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key\"; ssh-keygen -N \"\" -b 4096 -t rsa -f \"${prefix}/etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key\"; ssh-keygen -N \"\" -b 521 -t ecdsa -f \"${prefix}/etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key\""