diff --git a/src/freedombone-base-email b/src/freedombone-base-email
index f74bc3f6..19ae0854 100755
--- a/src/freedombone-base-email
+++ b/src/freedombone-base-email
@@ -1514,7 +1514,8 @@ function create_gpg_subkey {
     chown -R $MY_USERNAME:$MY_USERNAME /home/$MY_USERNAME/.gnupg
 
     shred -zu /home/$MY_USERNAME/gpg-genkey.conf
-    MY_GPG_SUBKEY_ID=$(su -c "gpg --list-keys $MY_EMAIL_ADDRESS | grep 'pub '" - $MY_USERNAME | awk -F ' ' '{print $2}' | awk -F '/' '{print $2}')
+
+    MY_GPG_SUBKEY_ID=$(gpg_pubkey_from_email "$MY_USERNAME" "$MY_EMAIL_ADDRESS")
 
     mark_completed $FUNCNAME
 }
diff --git a/src/freedombone-pass b/src/freedombone-pass
index 298e3495..285e2f58 100755
--- a/src/freedombone-pass
+++ b/src/freedombone-pass
@@ -57,9 +57,7 @@ MASTER_PASSWORD=''
 NO_PASSWORD_STORE_FILE=~/.nostore
 
 function get_backup_key_id {
-    MY_BACKUP_KEY_ID=$(gpg --list-keys "(backup key)" | \
-                           grep 'pub ' | awk -F ' ' '{print $2}' | \
-                           awk -F '/' '{print $2}')
+    MY_BACKUP_KEY_ID=$(gpg --list-keys "(backup key)" | sed -n '2p' | sed 's/^[ \t]*//')
     if [ ${#MY_BACKUP_KEY_ID} -lt 4 ]; then
         echo $"Error: gpg backup key was not found"
         return 58213
diff --git a/src/freedombone-splitkey b/src/freedombone-splitkey
index 871f6ba7..df8f2fce 100755
--- a/src/freedombone-splitkey
+++ b/src/freedombone-splitkey
@@ -104,16 +104,14 @@ fi
 if [ ! $MY_EMAIL_ADDRESS ]; then
     MY_EMAIL_ADDRESS=$MY_USERNAME@$HOSTNAME
 fi
-KEYID=$(su -c "gpg --list-keys $MY_EMAIL_ADDRESS | grep 'pub '" - \
-           $MY_USERNAME | awk -F ' ' '{print $2}' | awk -F '/' '{print $2}')
+
+KEYID=$(su -c "gpg --list-keys $MY_EMAIL_ADDRESS" - $MY_USERNAME | sed -n '2p' | sed 's/^[ \t]*//')
 if [ ${#KEYID} -lt 4 ]; then
     echo $"gpg key for $MY_EMAIL_ADDRESS was not found"
     exit 3682
 fi
 
-MY_BACKUP_KEY_ID=$(gpg --list-keys "$MY_NAME (backup key)" | \
-                          grep 'pub ' | awk -F ' ' '{print $2}' | \
-                          awk -F '/' '{print $2}')
+MY_BACKUP_KEY_ID=$(gpg --list-keys "$MY_NAME (backup key)" | sed -n '2p' | sed 's/^[ \t]*//')
 if [ ${#MY_BACKUP_KEY_ID} -lt 4 ]; then
     echo $"gpg backup key for '$MY_NAME' was not found"
     exit 58213
diff --git a/src/freedombone-utils-backup b/src/freedombone-utils-backup
index c450e5d1..9073ff90 100755
--- a/src/freedombone-utils-backup
+++ b/src/freedombone-utils-backup
@@ -84,7 +84,8 @@ function configure_backup_key {
             exit 43382
         fi
     fi
-    MY_BACKUP_KEY_ID=$(su -c "gpg --list-keys \"$MY_NAME (backup key)\" | grep 'pub '" - $MY_USERNAME | awk -F ' ' '{print $2}' | awk -F '/' '{print $2}')
+
+    MY_BACKUP_KEY_ID=$(su -c "gpg --list-keys \"$MY_NAME (backup key)\"" - $MY_USERNAME | sed -n '2p' | sed 's/^[ \t]*//')
     echo "Backup key: $MY_BACKUP_KEY_ID"
     MY_BACKUP_KEY=/home/$MY_USERNAME/backup_key
     su -m root -c "gpg --homedir /home/$MY_USERNAME/.gnupg --output ${MY_BACKUP_KEY}_public.asc --armor --export $MY_BACKUP_KEY_ID" - $MY_USERNAME
@@ -251,7 +252,8 @@ function backup_directory_to_usb {
             restart_site
             exit 6
         fi
-        MY_BACKUP_KEY_ID=$(gpg --list-keys "$ADMIN_NAME (backup key)" | grep 'pub ' | awk -F ' ' '{print $2}' | awk -F '/' '{print $2}')
+
+        MY_BACKUP_KEY_ID=$(gpg --list-keys "$ADMIN_NAME (backup key)" | sed -n '2p' | sed 's/^[ \t]*//')
         if [ ! -d $USB_MOUNT/backup/${2} ]; then
             mkdir -p $USB_MOUNT/backup/${2}
         fi
@@ -357,7 +359,8 @@ function backup_directory_to_friend {
         restart_site
         exit 43382
     fi
-    ADMIN_BACKUP_KEY_ID=$(gpg --list-keys "$ADMIN_NAME (backup key)" | grep 'pub ' | awk -F ' ' '{print $2}' | awk -F '/' '{print $2}')
+
+    ADMIN_BACKUP_KEY_ID=$(gpg --list-keys "$ADMIN_NAME (backup key)" | sed -n '2p' | sed 's/^[ \t]*//')
     if [ ! -d $SERVER_DIRECTORY/backup/${2} ]; then
         mkdir -p $SERVER_DIRECTORY/backup/${2}
     fi
diff --git a/src/freedombone-utils-gpg b/src/freedombone-utils-gpg
index bfa7ec3d..17300aa2 100755
--- a/src/freedombone-utils-gpg
+++ b/src/freedombone-utils-gpg
@@ -33,9 +33,9 @@ function gpg_pubkey_from_email {
     key_email_address=$2
     key_id=
     if [[ $key_owner_username != "root" ]]; then
-        key_id=$(su -c "gpg --list-keys $key_email_address | grep 'pub '" - $key_owner_username | head -n 1 | awk -F ' ' '{print $2}' | awk -F '/' '{print $2}')
+        key_id=$(su -c "gpg --list-keys $key_email_address" - $key_owner_username | sed -n '2p' | sed 's/^[ \t]*//')
     else
-        key_id=$(gpg --list-keys $key_email_address | grep 'pub ' | head -n 1 | awk -F ' ' '{print $2}' | awk -F '/' '{print $2}')
+        key_id=$(gpg --list-keys $key_email_address | sed -n '2p' | sed 's/^[ \t]*//')
     fi
     echo $key_id
 }