diff --git a/scripts/stableids b/scripts/stableids
index 3297581..5bd3e95 100755
--- a/scripts/stableids
+++ b/scripts/stableids
@@ -151,11 +151,13 @@ exit 0 if ($dump_only);
 store(\%ids, $idsfile) or die "cannot write $idsfile";
 push @to_delete, $idsfile;
 
-system("tar -cC $patchpar $patchdir|ssh -C $machine -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no 'tar -xC $patchpar'") == 0 ||
-	die "ssh didn't start";
-print "Written patches and ids to $machine:$patchpath\n";
+if ($machine ne 'localhost') {
+	system("tar -cC $patchpar $patchdir|ssh -C $machine -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no 'tar -xC $patchpar'") == 0 ||
+		die "ssh didn't start";
+	unlink(@to_delete) or print STDERR "cannot delete some temp files\n";
+	rmdir("$patchpath") or print STDERR "cannot remove $patchpath\n";
+}
 
-unlink(@to_delete) or print STDERR "cannot delete some temp files\n";
-rmdir("$patchpath") or print STDERR "cannot remove $patchpath\n";
+print "Written patches and ids to $machine:$patchpath\n";
 
 0;