diff --git a/salt/manager/tools/sbin/soup b/salt/manager/tools/sbin/soup
index a41b80ad8..4a23d033d 100755
--- a/salt/manager/tools/sbin/soup
+++ b/salt/manager/tools/sbin/soup
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ check_local_mods() {
     default_file="${DEFAULT_SALT_DIR}${stripped_path}"
     if [[ -f $default_file ]]; then
       file_diff=$(diff "$default_file" "$local_file" )
-      if [[ $(echo "$file_diff" | grep -c "^<") -gt 0 ]]; then
+      if [[ $(echo "$file_diff" | grep -Ec "^[<>]") -gt 0 ]]; then
         local_mod_arr+=( "$local_file" )
       fi
     fi