diff --git a/bin/nova-novncproxy b/bin/nova-novncproxy
index 37486f6a..29981f53 100755
--- a/bin/nova-novncproxy
+++ b/bin/nova-novncproxy
@@ -66,12 +66,12 @@ CONF.import_opt('debug', 'nova.openstack.common.log')
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
-    if CONF.ssl_only and not os.path.exists(CONF.cert):
-        parser.error("SSL only and %s not found" % CONF.cert)
-
     # Setup flags
     config.parse_args(sys.argv)
 
+    if CONF.ssl_only and not os.path.exists(CONF.cert):
+        parser.error("SSL only and %s not found" % CONF.cert)
+
     # Check to see if novnc html/js/css files are present
     if not os.path.exists(CONF.web):
         print "Can not find novnc html/js/css files at %s." % CONF.web
diff --git a/bin/nova-spicehtml5proxy b/bin/nova-spicehtml5proxy
index a4c97a73..012a202e 100755
--- a/bin/nova-spicehtml5proxy
+++ b/bin/nova-spicehtml5proxy
@@ -66,12 +66,12 @@ CONF.import_opt('debug', 'nova.openstack.common.log')
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
-    if CONF.ssl_only and not os.path.exists(CONF.cert):
-        parser.error("SSL only and %s not found" % CONF.cert)
-
     # Setup flags
     config.parse_args(sys.argv)
 
+    if CONF.ssl_only and not os.path.exists(CONF.cert):
+        parser.error("SSL only and %s not found" % CONF.cert)
+
     # Check to see if spice html/js/css files are present
     if not os.path.exists(CONF.web):
         print "Can not find spice html/js/css files at %s." % CONF.web