diff --git a/scripts/pepper b/scripts/pepper
index 9d9c137..0e69e31 100755
--- a/scripts/pepper
+++ b/scripts/pepper
@@ -33,7 +33,10 @@ logger.addHandler(NullHandler())
 class Pepper(object):
     def __init__(self):
         self.cli = PepperCli()
-        self.opts = salt.config.client_config(self.cli.options.master)
+        if HAS_SALT:
+            self.opts = salt.config.client_config(self.cli.options.master)
+        else:
+            self.opts = {}
 
     @property
     def output(self):
@@ -48,7 +51,7 @@ class Pepper(object):
     def __call__(self):
         try:
             for exit_code, result in self.cli.run():
-                if HAS_SALT:
+                if HAS_SALT and self.opts:
                     logger.info('Use Salt outputters')
                     for ret in json.loads(result)['return']:
                         if isinstance(ret, dict):