diff --git a/ripe.sh b/ripe.sh
index dfda77a..038789c 100755
--- a/ripe.sh
+++ b/ripe.sh
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ if [ $# -lt 2 ] ; then
     echo "$0 network asn [nodryrun]"
     echo "ASN needs to be in ASXXXXXX format"
     echo "By default uses dry-run and does not create objects"
+    echo "Requires environment variable RIPE_API_PASSWORD to be set"
     exit 1
 fi
 
@@ -20,6 +21,11 @@ else
     dryrun="&dry-run"
 fi
 
+if [ -z "$RIPE_API_PASSWORD" ]; then
+    echo "You need to set RIPE_API_PASSWORD" >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+
 form=$(mktemp)
 
 case ${network} in