diff --git a/shadowsocks-libev/files/shadowsocks-libev.init b/shadowsocks-libev/files/shadowsocks-libev.init
index 7df26349d..abf3467f7 100644
--- a/shadowsocks-libev/files/shadowsocks-libev.init
+++ b/shadowsocks-libev/files/shadowsocks-libev.init
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ ss_mkjson_server_conf_() {
 	[ -n "$server_port" ] || return 1
 	password="${password//\"/\\\"}"
 	key="$(echo $key | sed 's/+/-/g; s/\//_/g;')"
+	[ "$method" = "none" -a -z "$key" ] && key="none"
 	cat <<-EOF
 		${server:+${q}server${q}: ${q}$server${q},}
 		"server_port": $server_port,