diff --git a/salt/common/tools/sbin/so-status b/salt/common/tools/sbin/so-status
index 4e4331321..fe353e126 100755
--- a/salt/common/tools/sbin/so-status
+++ b/salt/common/tools/sbin/so-status
@@ -170,19 +170,19 @@ parse_status() {
 # {% raw %}
 
 print_line() {
-    is_tty
     local service_name="${1}"
     local service_state="" ; service_state="$( parse_status "${1}" "${2}" )"
     # XXX: What will we do if tput isn't avalable?
     local line=""
+    local PADDING_CONSTANT=""
     local columns=35 # value used if not printing to a tty
-    local PADDING_CONSTANT=16 # two tabs wide
 
     if (( __tty == 1 )); then
         local NC; NC="$(tput sgr0)" # no color
         local red; red="$(tput setaf 1 bold)"
         local green; green="$(tput setaf 2 bold)"
         local yellow; yellow="$(tput setaf 3 bold)"
+        PADDING_CONSTANT=16 # two tabs wide
 
         columns=$(tput cols)
     fi