diff --git a/docs/backends/age.md b/docs/backends/age.md
index 181986f973..d1e840a8da 100644
--- a/docs/backends/age.md
+++ b/docs/backends/age.md
@@ -37,6 +37,11 @@ $  GOPASS_AGE_PASSWORD=mypassword gopass init --crypto age <age1...>
 Notice the extra space in front of the command to skip most shell's history.
 You'll need to set your name and username using `git` directly if you're using it as storage backend (the default one).
 
+You can also specify the ssh directory by setting environment variable
+```
+$  GOPASS_SSH_DIR=/Downloads/new_ssh_dir gopass init --crypto age <age1...>
+```
+
 ## Features
 
 * Encryption using `age` library, can be decrypted using the `age` CLI
diff --git a/docs/config.md b/docs/config.md
index 5488748071..632ecbe8b5 100644
--- a/docs/config.md
+++ b/docs/config.md
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ Some configuration options are only available through setting environment variab
 | `GOPASS_NO_NOTIFY`           | `bool`   | Set to any non-empty value to prevent notifications                                                                                                               |
 | `GOPASS_NO_REMINDER`         | `bool`   | Set to any non-empty value to prevent reminders                                                                                                                   |
 | `GOPASS_PW_DEFAULT_LENGTH`   | `int`    | Set to any integer value larger than zero to define a different default length in the `generate` command. By default the length is 24 characters.                 |
+| `GOPASS_SSH_DIR`             | `string` | Set to a filepath that contains ssh keys. Overrides default location. |
 | `GOPASS_UMASK`               | `octal`  | Set to any valid umask to mask bits of files created by gopass                                                                                                    |
 | `GOPASS_UNCLIP_CHECKSUM`     | `string` | (internal) Used between gopass and it's unclip helper.                                                                                                            |
 | `GOPASS_UNCLIP_NAME`         | `string` | (internal) Used between gopass and it's unclip helper.                                                                                                            |
diff --git a/internal/backend/crypto/age/ssh.go b/internal/backend/crypto/age/ssh.go
index fd9d244661..56ae9dae94 100644
--- a/internal/backend/crypto/age/ssh.go
+++ b/internal/backend/crypto/age/ssh.go
@@ -34,9 +34,9 @@ func (a *Age) getSSHIdentities(ctx context.Context) (map[string]age.Identity, er
 
 	sshDir, err := getSSHDir()
 	if err != nil {
-		debug.Log("asdf: %s", err)
+		debug.Log("no .ssh directory found at %s. Ignoring SSH identities", sshDir)
 
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("asdf: %w", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("no identities found: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	files, err := os.ReadDir(sshDir)
@@ -68,27 +68,20 @@ func (a *Age) getSSHIdentities(ctx context.Context) (map[string]age.Identity, er
 
 func getSSHDir() (string, error) {
 	preferredPath := os.Getenv("GOPASS_SSHDIR")
-	if preferredPath != "" {
-		return preferredPath, nil
-	}
 	sshDir := filepath.Join(preferredPath, ".ssh")
-	if !fsutil.IsDir(sshDir) {
-		debug.Log("no .ssh directory found at %s. Ignoring SSH identities", sshDir)
-
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("no identities found: %w", ErrNoSSHDir)
+	if fsutil.IsDir(sshDir) {
+		return preferredPath, nil
 	}
 
 	// notice that this respects the GOPASS_HOMEDIR env variable, and won't
 	// find a .ssh folder in your home directory if you set GOPASS_HOMEDIR
 	uhd := appdir.UserHome()
 	sshDir = filepath.Join(uhd, ".ssh")
-	if !fsutil.IsDir(sshDir) {
-		debug.Log("no .ssh directory found at %s. Ignoring SSH identities", sshDir)
-
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("no identities found: %w", ErrNoSSHDir)
+	if fsutil.IsDir(sshDir) {
+		return sshDir, nil
 	}
 
-	return "", nil
+	return "", ErrNoSSHDir
 }
 
 // parseSSHIdentity parses a SSH public key file and returns the recipient and the identity.