diff --git a/SparkleLib/SparkleFetcherBase.cs b/SparkleLib/SparkleFetcherBase.cs
index fd1716af..5cfa8194 100755
--- a/SparkleLib/SparkleFetcherBase.cs
+++ b/SparkleLib/SparkleFetcherBase.cs
@@ -262,6 +262,10 @@ namespace SparkleLib {
         {
             string host = RemoteUrl.Host;
             int port    = RemoteUrl.Port;
+
+            if (port < 1)
+                port = 22;
+
             SparkleLogger.LogInfo ("Auth", "Fetching host key for " + host);
 
             Process process = new Process () {
@@ -269,7 +273,7 @@ namespace SparkleLib {
             };
 
             process.StartInfo.FileName               = "ssh-keyscan";
-            process.StartInfo.Arguments              = "-t rsa -p " + port.ToString() + " " + host;
+            process.StartInfo.Arguments              = "-t rsa -p " + port + " " + host;
             process.StartInfo.WorkingDirectory       = SparkleConfig.DefaultConfig.TmpPath;
             process.StartInfo.UseShellExecute        = false;
             process.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
@@ -282,7 +286,7 @@ namespace SparkleLib {
             string host_key = process.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd ().Trim ();
             process.WaitForExit ();
 
-            if (process.ExitCode == 0 && host_key != "")
+            if (process.ExitCode == 0 && !string.IsNullOrEmpty (host_key))
                 return host_key;
             else
                 return null;