diff --git a/pkg/ssh/ssh.go b/pkg/ssh/ssh.go
index 9865390d..49ceb24f 100644
--- a/pkg/ssh/ssh.go
+++ b/pkg/ssh/ssh.go
@@ -475,11 +475,10 @@ func GetContextConnDetails(serverName string) (*dockerSSHPkg.Spec, error) {
 func GetHostConfig(hostname, username, port string) (HostConfig, error) {
 	var hostConfig HostConfig
 
-	var host, idf string
-
-	if host = ssh_config.Get(hostname, "Hostname"); host == "" {
-		logrus.Debugf("no hostname found in SSH config, assuming %s", hostname)
-		host = hostname
+	if hostname == "" {
+		if hostname = ssh_config.Get(hostname, "Hostname"); hostname == "" {
+			logrus.Debugf("no hostname found in SSH config, assuming %s", hostname)
+		}
 	}
 
 	if username == "" {
@@ -500,17 +499,19 @@ func GetHostConfig(hostname, username, port string) (HostConfig, error) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	idf = ssh_config.Get(hostname, "IdentityFile")
-	if idf != "" {
+	if idf := ssh_config.Get(hostname, "IdentityFile"); idf != "" && idf != "~/.ssh/identity" {
 		var err error
 		idf, err = identityFileAbsPath(idf)
 		if err != nil {
 			return hostConfig, err
 		}
 		hostConfig.IdentityFile = idf
+	} else {
+		logrus.Debugf("no identity file found in SSH config for %s", hostname)
+		hostConfig.IdentityFile = ""
 	}
 
-	hostConfig.Host = host
+	hostConfig.Host = hostname
 	hostConfig.Port = port
 	hostConfig.User = username