diff --git a/src/pki/commands/issue.c b/src/pki/commands/issue.c
index 482941398..6a5686d92 100644
--- a/src/pki/commands/issue.c
+++ b/src/pki/commands/issue.c
@@ -289,11 +289,6 @@ static int issue()
 			goto end;
 		}
 	}
-	else
-	{
-		id = identification_create_from_encoding(ID_DER_ASN1_DN,
-										chunk_from_chars(ASN1_SEQUENCE, 0));
-	}
 
 	DBG2(DBG_LIB, "Reading ca certificate:");
 	ca = lib->creds->create(lib->creds, CRED_CERTIFICATE, CERT_X509,
@@ -430,6 +425,12 @@ static int issue()
 		goto end;
 	}
 
+	if (!id)
+	{
+		id = identification_create_from_encoding(ID_DER_ASN1_DN,
+										chunk_from_chars(ASN1_SEQUENCE, 0));
+	}
+
 	not_before = time(NULL);
 	not_after = not_before + lifetime * 24 * 60 * 60;