diff --git a/salt/common/tools/sbin/soup b/salt/common/tools/sbin/soup
index e5563cddb..86d48e2d1 100755
--- a/salt/common/tools/sbin/soup
+++ b/salt/common/tools/sbin/soup
@@ -873,6 +873,7 @@ apply_hotfix() {
 main() {
   trap 'check_err $?' EXIT
   
+  echo "### Preparing soup at $(date) ###"
   check_pillar_items
 
   echo "Checking to see if this is an airgap install."
@@ -1184,5 +1185,4 @@ EOF
   read -r input
 fi
 
-echo "### Preparing soup at $(date) ###"
 main "$@" | tee -a $SOUP_LOG