diff --git a/src/utils/ltfs_ordered_copy b/src/utils/ltfs_ordered_copy
index 5537964e..b5800ffc 100755
--- a/src/utils/ltfs_ordered_copy
+++ b/src/utils/ltfs_ordered_copy
@@ -336,6 +336,9 @@ if args.DEST == None:
     logger.error('No destination is specified')
     exit(2)
 
+if args.keep_tree is None:
+    args.keep_tree = ''
+
 # Special case:
 #  Copy source is only one file
 if args.recursive == False and len(args.SOURCE) == 1:
@@ -387,9 +390,6 @@ if len(args.SOURCE) == 0:
         args.SOURCE.append(line.rstrip('\r\n'))
     logger.log(NOTSET + 1, 'Source: {}'.format(args.SOURCE))
 
-if args.keep_tree is None:
-    args.keep_tree = ''
-
 # Create the list of copy item
 copyq = CopyQueue(logger, args.sort_files)
 for s in args.SOURCE: