diff --git a/qa/qa_env.py b/qa/qa_env.py
index 18313660d7edd4657da83e70371f63da4b0f6d64..bb2f39f570fe1c96b952a5f0db4a884e172a58fa 100644
--- a/qa/qa_env.py
+++ b/qa/qa_env.py
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ def TestIcmpPing():
   seccmd = [pingsecondary, "-e"]
   for i in nodes:
     pricmd.append(i["primary"])
-    if "secondary" in i:
+    if i.get("secondary"):
       seccmd.append(i["secondary"])
 
   pristr = utils.ShellQuoteArgs(pricmd)