diff --git a/cli.js b/cli.js
index 838864a..d6599ac 100755
--- a/cli.js
+++ b/cli.js
@@ -388,10 +388,6 @@ async function init({ rpc, noteNetId, currency = 'dai', amount = '100' }) {
     PRIVATE_KEY = process.env.PRIVATE_KEY
     erc20ContractJson = require('./build/contracts/ERC20Mock.json')
     erc20tornadoJson = require('./build/contracts/ERC20Tornado.json')
-    const account = web3.eth.accounts.privateKeyToAccount('0x' + PRIVATE_KEY)
-    web3.eth.accounts.wallet.add('0x' + PRIVATE_KEY)
-    web3.eth.defaultAccount = account.address
-    senderAccount = account.address
   }
   // groth16 initialises a lot of Promises that will never be resolved, that's why we need to use process.exit to terminate the CLI
   groth16 = await buildGroth16()
@@ -406,6 +402,16 @@ async function init({ rpc, noteNetId, currency = 'dai', amount = '100' }) {
     tokenAddress = currency !== 'eth' ? erc20ContractJson.networks[netId].address : null
     senderAccount = (await web3.eth.getAccounts())[0]
   } else {
+    try {
+      const account = web3.eth.accounts.privateKeyToAccount('0x' + PRIVATE_KEY)
+      web3.eth.accounts.wallet.add('0x' + PRIVATE_KEY)
+      // eslint-disable-next-line require-atomic-updates
+      web3.eth.defaultAccount = account.address
+      senderAccount = account.address
+    } catch(e) {
+      console.error('Please provide PRIVATE_KEY in .env file')
+      process.exit(1)
+    }
     try{
       tornadoAddress = config.deployments[`netId${netId}`][currency].instanceAddress[amount]
       if (!tornadoAddress) {