diff --git a/src/openvpn/ssl_ncp.c b/src/openvpn/ssl_ncp.c
index c9ab85ce..d82419fb 100644
--- a/src/openvpn/ssl_ncp.c
+++ b/src/openvpn/ssl_ncp.c
@@ -268,15 +268,11 @@ ncp_get_best_cipher(const char *server_list, const char *peer_info,
 static bool
 tls_poor_mans_ncp(struct options *o, const char *remote_ciphername)
 {
-    if (remote_ciphername
-        && 0 != strcmp(o->ciphername, remote_ciphername))
+    if (tls_item_in_cipher_list(remote_ciphername, o->ncp_ciphers))
     {
-        if (tls_item_in_cipher_list(remote_ciphername, o->ncp_ciphers))
-        {
-            o->ciphername = string_alloc(remote_ciphername, &o->gc);
-            msg(D_TLS_DEBUG_LOW, "Using peer cipher '%s'", o->ciphername);
-            return true;
-        }
+        o->ciphername = string_alloc(remote_ciphername, &o->gc);
+        msg(D_TLS_DEBUG_LOW, "Using peer cipher '%s'", o->ciphername);
+        return true;
     }
     return false;
 }