diff --git a/kdumpctl b/kdumpctl
index b9d5fe6..d9be158 100755
--- a/kdumpctl
+++ b/kdumpctl
@@ -366,12 +366,12 @@ check_config()
 	}
 
 	while read config_opt config_val; do
-		# remove inline comments after the end of a directive.
-		config_val=$(strip_comments $config_val)
 		case "$config_opt" in
 		\#* | "")
 			;;
 		raw|ext2|ext3|ext4|minix|btrfs|xfs|nfs|ssh|sshkey|path|core_collector|kdump_post|kdump_pre|extra_bins|extra_modules|default|force_rebuild|force_no_rebuild|dracut_args|fence_kdump_args|fence_kdump_nodes)
+			# remove inline comments after the end of a directive.
+			config_val=$(strip_comments $config_val)
 			[ -z "$config_val" ] && {
 				echo "Invalid kdump config value for option $config_opt."
 				return 1;
@@ -800,10 +800,10 @@ load_kdump()
 check_ssh_config()
 {
 	while read config_opt config_val; do
-		# remove inline comments after the end of a directive.
-		config_val=$(strip_comments $config_val)
 		case "$config_opt" in
 		sshkey)
+			# remove inline comments after the end of a directive.
+			config_val=$(strip_comments $config_val)
 			if [ -f "$config_val" ]; then
 				# canonicalize the path
 				SSH_KEY_LOCATION=$(/usr/bin/readlink -m $config_val)
@@ -812,9 +812,11 @@ check_ssh_config()
 			fi
 			;;
 		path)
+			config_val=$(strip_comments $config_val)
 			SAVE_PATH=$config_val
 			;;
 		ssh)
+			config_val=$(strip_comments $config_val)
 			DUMP_TARGET=$config_val
 			;;
 		*)