diff --git a/bundles/icinga2/files/check_by_sshmon b/bundles/icinga2/files/check_by_sshmon
index df553f9..3138c78 100644
--- a/bundles/icinga2/files/check_by_sshmon
+++ b/bundles/icinga2/files/check_by_sshmon
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ fi
 
 ssh sshmon@"$SSHMON_HOST" "$SSHMON_COMMAND"
 
+exitcode=$?
+
 if [ "$exitcode" = 124 ]
 then
     echo 'check_by_sshmon: Timeout while running check remotely' >&2
diff --git a/bundles/monitored/metadata.py b/bundles/monitored/metadata.py
index aaa0a07..d82a949 100644
--- a/bundles/monitored/metadata.py
+++ b/bundles/monitored/metadata.py
@@ -3,13 +3,30 @@ defaults = {
         'services': {
             'test': {
                 'vars.command': '/bin/ls /',
-                'check_command': 'sshmon',
                 'host_name': node.name,
             },
         },
     },
 }
 
+
+@metadata_reactor.provides(
+    'monitoring/services',
+)
+def service_defaults(metadata):
+    return {
+        'monitoring': {
+            'services': {
+                name: {
+                    'check_command': 'sshmon',
+                }
+                    for name, conf in metadata.get('monitoring/services').items()
+                    if 'check_command' not in conf
+            },
+        },
+    }
+
+
 @metadata_reactor.provides(
     'users/sshmon/authorized_users'
 )