diff --git a/ejabberdctl.template b/ejabberdctl.template
index 58a0d8be6..0d124bead 100755
--- a/ejabberdctl.template
+++ b/ejabberdctl.template
@@ -553,7 +553,8 @@ case $1 in
                  -noinput -hidden \
                  -eval 'net_kernel:connect_node('"'$PEER'"')' \
                  -eval 'io:format("~p~n",[net_adm:ping('"'$PEER'"')])' \
-                 -s erlang halt -output text
+                 -eval 'halt(case net_adm:ping('"'$PEER'"') of pong -> 0; pang -> 1 end).' \
+                 -output text
         ;;
     started)
         set_dist_client