diff --git a/transfer.sh b/transfer.sh
index 9e9e6e2a95bc013d6dac480730dfc9b86662157f..132aaaa7e23b392aa023ef407ddd9ff3dc12dfcc 100755
--- a/transfer.sh
+++ b/transfer.sh
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 # 2019-10-30  ah,ds  v1.9  for rsync targets: create remote target dir with ssh command
 # 2020-01-21  ah,ds  v1.10 show colored OK or FAILED at the end of output
 # 2020-02-25  ah,ds, v1.11 fix test -z with non existing vars; show final backup status
+# 2021-01-29  ah,ds, v1.12 abort on empty passphrase
 # ================================================================================
 
 
@@ -112,9 +113,6 @@
     cat "${lockfile}"
     color reset
     echo
-    echo if no process was found then delete the lockfile
-    ls -l "${lockfile}"
-    echo
 
     # 1659 - check process id inside the lock file
     # detect pid from lockfile and search for this process
@@ -170,6 +168,12 @@
 
 
   PASSPHRASE=`_j_getvar ${STORAGEFILE} "gnupg-passphrase"`
+  if [ -z "${PASSPHRASE}" ]; then
+    echo "ERROR: no value gnupg-passphrase was set in ${STORAGEFILE} to encrypt backup data."
+    echo "Aborting."
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
   sParamExclude=
   # build exclude param list for duplicity
   #