diff --git a/vcsh b/vcsh
index 4979d71079627dd304ac9ebe132b55813836e4f7..990a234ce11828baf2b34e50bd9f5edf94a73f31 100755
--- a/vcsh
+++ b/vcsh
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ clone() {
 	git remote add origin "$GIT_REMOTE"
 	git config branch.master.remote origin
 	git config branch.master.merge  refs/heads/master
-	if [ -z $(git ls-remote 2> /dev/null) ]; then
+	if [ $(git ls-remote origin master 2> /dev/null | wc -l ) -lt 1 ]; then
 		info "remote is empty, not merging anything"
 		exit
 	fi