diff --git a/source/bforce/nodelist.c b/source/bforce/nodelist.c
index 898b4e9..c0252a5 100644
--- a/source/bforce/nodelist.c
+++ b/source/bforce/nodelist.c
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ int nodelist_checkflag(const char *nodeflags, const char *flag)
 	if ( nodeflags ) {
 		while( p = strcasestr(searchbase, flag) ) // p - found flag 
 		{
-			if (*(p-1) == ',')
+			if ( ((p == searchbase)) || (*(p-1) == ','))
 			{
 				if( (q = strchr(p, ',')) == NULL || (q - p) == strlen(flag) ) {
 					DEB((D_NODELIST, "nodelist: found flag %s", flag));