diff --git a/src/monkeysphere-authentication b/src/monkeysphere-authentication
index edc7995..2711ff2 100755
--- a/src/monkeysphere-authentication
+++ b/src/monkeysphere-authentication
@@ -84,6 +84,13 @@ gpg_sphere() {
     su_monkeysphere_user gpg --fixed-list-mode --no-greeting --quiet --no-tty "$@"
 }
 
+check_openpgp2ssh_sanity() {
+    if [[ `su_monkeysphere_user openpgp2ssh ABC &>/dev/null || echo $?` != "255" ]]; then
+    echo "openpgp2ssh command gives unexpected return code. This can lead to a scenario where no authorized keys are populated, even though they are otherwise valid. Aborting!"
+    exit 1
+    fi; 
+}
+
 # output to stdout the core fingerprint from the gpg core secret
 # keyring
 core_fingerprint() {
@@ -163,6 +170,7 @@ case $COMMAND in
     'update-users'|'update-user'|'update'|'u')
 	source "${MASHAREDIR}/setup"
 	setup
+	check_openpgp2ssh_sanity
 	source "${MASHAREDIR}/update_users"
 	OUTPUT_STDOUT= update_users "$@"
 	;;
@@ -171,6 +179,7 @@ case $COMMAND in
 	(( $# > 0 )) || failure "Must specify user."
 	source "${MASHAREDIR}/setup"
 	setup
+	check_openpgp2ssh_sanity
 	source "${MASHAREDIR}/update_users"
 	OUTPUT_STDOUT=true update_users "$1"
 	;;