--- a/cfg-update	2017-12-21 16:08:52.701358985 -0500
+++ a/cfg-update	2018-03-18 13:31:25.910802902 -0400
@@ -171,12 +171,10 @@ 
     my $vstate7       = "Link to File     ";
     my $vstate8       = "File to Link     ";
     my $vstate9       = "Link to Link     ";
 ###    my $indexing_complete = "undefined";
     my $md5sum;
-    my $md5sum_file;
-    my $md5sum_index;
     my $md5sum_before;
     my $md5sum_update;
     my $md5sum_merged;
     my $md5sum_after;
     my $show_warning;
@@ -977,10 +975,14 @@ 
     }
     if ($opt_d >= 1) { $tab =~ s/    //; print "$tab"."</prepare_filenames_for_updating>\n"; }
 }
 
 sub determine_state{ #DEPS# (requires that global variable $file1 contains a filename)
+
+    my $md5sum_file;
+    my $md5sum_index;
+
     if ($opt_d >= 1) { print "$tab"."<determine_state>\n"; $tab = $tab."    "; }
     if (-f $index_file) {
         if ($opt_d >= 1) { if (-f $file1) { print "$tab"."  md5sum $file1 $debug | cut -d\" \" -f1 $debug\n"; }}
         local $ENV{LC_ALL}="C";
         if ($file1 =~ /\/\//) {           # search for // in filename, everything in front of this // is the path of the remote host
@@ -994,11 +996,11 @@ 
         if ($opt_d >= 1) { print "$tab"."  MD5 checksum of current config file : $md5sum_file\n"; }
         if ($opt_d >= 1) { print "$tab"."  grep \"$file1_without_host \" $host_path$index_file $debug | cut -d\" \" -f2 $debug\n"; }
         local $ENV{LC_ALL}="C";
         chomp ($md5sum_index = `grep "$file1_without_host " "$host_path$index_file" $debug | cut -d" " -f2 $debug`);
         if ($opt_d >= 1) { print "$tab"."  MD5 checksum in the checksum-index  : $md5sum_index\n"; }
-        if ($md5sum_index =~ /.+/) {
+        if ($md5sum_file && $md5sum_index =~ /.+/) {
             if ($md5sum_index !~ $md5sum_file) {
                 $state = $state1; $vstate = $vstate1;                               #  1 = MF = Modified File     - checksum differs from index
                 if (-B "$file1") { $state = $state2; $vstate = $vstate2; }          #  2 = MB = Modified Binary   - you probably replaced the binary file so replace not allowed
             } else {
                 $state = $state3; $vstate = $vstate3;                               #  3 = UF = Unmodified File   - checksum matches with index