diff --git a/board/common/overlay/etc/init.d/S41netwatch b/board/common/overlay/etc/init.d/S41netwatch
index 940d515083..c7421d72f8 100755
--- a/board/common/overlay/etc/init.d/S41netwatch
+++ b/board/common/overlay/etc/init.d/S41netwatch
@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@ netwatch_interval=20
 
 test -f $watch_conf && source $watch_conf || exit 0
 
-test -z "$netwatch_host" || -z "$netwatch_port" && exit 0
+if [ -z "$netwatch_host" ] || [ -z "$netwatch_port" ]; then
+    exit 0
+fi
 
 test -n "$os_version" || source /etc/init.d/base
 test -n "$os_debug" || source /etc/init.d/conf
@@ -18,10 +20,12 @@ watch() {
     count=0
     netwatch_retries=$(($netwatch_retries - 1))
     while true; do
+        sleep $netwatch_interval
         if nc -z -w $netwatch_timeout $netwatch_host $netwatch_port </dev/null >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             count=0
         else
             if [ $count -lt $netwatch_retries ]; then
+                logger -t netwatch -s "cannot connect to $netwatch_host:$netwatch_port"
                 count=$(($count + 1))
                 continue
             else
@@ -29,7 +33,6 @@ watch() {
                 reboot
             fi
         fi
-        sleep $netwatch_interval
     done
 }