diff --git a/cli/command/registry.go b/cli/command/registry.go
index c86edcc79f..90189b9482 100644
--- a/cli/command/registry.go
+++ b/cli/command/registry.go
@@ -29,11 +29,16 @@ func ElectAuthServer(ctx context.Context, cli Cli) string {
 	// example a Linux client might be interacting with a Windows daemon, hence
 	// the default registry URL might be Windows specific.
 	serverAddress := registry.IndexServer
-	if info, err := cli.Client().Info(ctx); err != nil && debug.IsEnabled() {
-		// Only report the warning if we're in debug mode to prevent nagging during engine initialization workflows
-		fmt.Fprintf(cli.Err(), "Warning: failed to get default registry endpoint from daemon (%v). Using system default: %s\n", err, serverAddress)
-	} else if info.IndexServerAddress == "" && debug.IsEnabled() {
-		fmt.Fprintf(cli.Err(), "Warning: Empty registry endpoint from daemon. Using system default: %s\n", serverAddress)
+	if info, err := cli.Client().Info(ctx); err != nil {
+		// Daemon is not responding so use system default.
+		if debug.IsEnabled() {
+			// Only report the warning if we're in debug mode to prevent nagging during engine initialization workflows
+			fmt.Fprintf(cli.Err(), "Warning: failed to get default registry endpoint from daemon (%v). Using system default: %s\n", err, serverAddress)
+		}
+	} else if info.IndexServerAddress == "" {
+		if debug.IsEnabled() {
+			fmt.Fprintf(cli.Err(), "Warning: Empty registry endpoint from daemon. Using system default: %s\n", serverAddress)
+		}
 	} else {
 		serverAddress = info.IndexServerAddress
 	}