diff --git a/st2client/st2client/base.py b/st2client/st2client/base.py
index c1bc62f489..0ec895ae33 100644
--- a/st2client/st2client/base.py
+++ b/st2client/st2client/base.py
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ def get_client(self, args, debug=False):
         password = credentials.get('password', None)
         cache_token = rc_config.get('cli', {}).get('cache_token', False)
 
-        if credentials:
+        if username:
             # Credentials are provided, try to authenticate agaist the API
             try:
                 token = self._get_auth_token(client=client, username=username, password=password,