diff --git a/cmd/gh/main.go b/cmd/gh/main.go
index 0d4aa3761..9540550a0 100644
--- a/cmd/gh/main.go
+++ b/cmd/gh/main.go
@@ -52,7 +52,6 @@ func main() {
 	}
 
 	cmd, _, err := rootCmd.Traverse(expandedArgs)
-	_, skipAuthCheck := cmd.Annotations["skipAuthCheck"]
 	if err != nil || cmd == rootCmd {
 		originalArgs := expandedArgs
 		isShell := false
@@ -94,6 +93,8 @@ func main() {
 		}
 	}
 
+	_, skipAuthCheck := cmd.Annotations["skipAuthCheck"]
+
 	// TODO support other names
 	ghtoken := os.Getenv("GITHUB_TOKEN")
 	if ghtoken != "" {