diff --git a/usr/local/share/bastille/create.sh b/usr/local/share/bastille/create.sh
index 6a19acf8..7df5a11f 100644
--- a/usr/local/share/bastille/create.sh
+++ b/usr/local/share/bastille/create.sh
@@ -144,17 +144,19 @@ generate_vnet_jail_conf() {
     ## determine number of containers + 1
     ## iterate num and grep all jail configs
     ## define uniq_epair
-    local list_jails_num=$(bastille list jails | wc -l | awk '{print $1}')
-    local num_range=$(expr "${list_jails_num}" + 1)
-    jail_list=$(bastille list jail)
-    for _num in $(seq 0 "${num_range}"); do
-        if [ -n "${jail_list}" ]; then
+    local jail_list=$(bastille list jails)
+    if [ -n "${jail_list}" ]; then
+        local list_jails_num=$(echo "${jail_list}" | wc -l | awk '{print $1}')
+        local num_range=$(expr "${list_jails_num}" + 1)
+        for _num in $(seq 0 "${num_range}"); do
             if ! grep -q "e0b_bastille${_num}" "${bastille_jailsdir}"/*/jail.conf; then
                 uniq_epair="bastille${_num}"
                 break
             fi
-        fi
-    done
+        done
+    else
+        uniq_epair="bastille0"
+    fi
 
     ## generate config
     cat << EOF > "${bastille_jail_conf}"