diff --git a/edit-secrets b/edit-secrets
index b4d816c..a2c67ac 100755
--- a/edit-secrets
+++ b/edit-secrets
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ function edit_file_on_host() {
 	edit_gpg_file ${SECRETFILE}
     elif [ -f /etc/hiera/eyaml/public_certkey.pkcs7.pem ]; then
 	# default to eyaml if the key exists and none of the secrets-file above exist
-	touch ${EYAMLFILE}
+	echo "---" > ${EYAMLFILE}
 	edit_eyaml_file ${EYAMLFILE}
     fi
 }