diff --git a/usr/local/bin/check_updates b/usr/local/bin/check_updates
index 7e99771..8c70e1b 100755
--- a/usr/local/bin/check_updates
+++ b/usr/local/bin/check_updates
@@ -69,13 +69,14 @@ check_required() {
   type mailx &> /dev/null || { echo "Requiring 'mailx' but it's not installed"; exit 1; }
 }
 
+CHECK_UPDATES_UPDATES=$(eval "${CHECK_UPDATES_UPDATES_CMD}")
+CHECK_UPDATES_UPDATES_AMOUNT=$(eval "${CHECK_UPDATES_UPDATES_AMOUNT_CMD}")
+
 source_config "$HOME/.check_updates.conf" "/etc/check_updates.conf"
 apply_defaults
 check_required
 
 HOSTNAME=$(hostname)
-CHECK_UPDATES_UPDATES=$(eval "${CHECK_UPDATES_UPDATES_CMD}")
-CHECK_UPDATES_UPDATES_AMOUNT=$(eval "${CHECK_UPDATES_UPDATES_AMOUNT_CMD}")
 
 if [[ "$CHECK_UPDATES_UPDATES_AMOUNT" -gt "0" ]]; then
   SUBJECT="[updates ${HOSTNAME}]"
@@ -86,5 +87,6 @@ There are ${CHECK_UPDATES_UPDATES_AMOUNT} updates available on ${HOSTNAME}.
 ${CHECK_UPDATES_UPDATES};
 EOF
   )
+
   echo "$MESSAGE" | mailx -Ssendwait -s "$SUBJECT" "$CHECK_UPDATES_MAIL_ADDRESS"
 fi