diff --git a/plugins/check_ssh.c b/plugins/check_ssh.c
index b73cdf24..3e25910d 100644
--- a/plugins/check_ssh.c
+++ b/plugins/check_ssh.c
@@ -75,16 +75,15 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
 
 	check_ssh_config config = tmp_config.config;
 
-	/* initialize alarm signal handling */
-	signal(SIGALRM, socket_timeout_alarm_handler);
-
-	alarm(socket_timeout);
-
 	mp_check overall = mp_check_init();
 	if (config.output_format_is_set) {
 		overall.format = config.output_format;
 	}
 
+	/* initialize alarm signal handling */
+	signal(SIGALRM, socket_timeout_alarm_handler);
+	alarm(socket_timeout);
+
 	/* ssh_connect exits if error is found */
 	ssh_connect(&overall, config.server_name, config.port, config.remote_version, config.remote_protocol);