diff --git a/osc/conf.py b/osc/conf.py
index c6fba94c..346c096d 100644
--- a/osc/conf.py
+++ b/osc/conf.py
@@ -540,14 +540,26 @@ def _build_opener(apiurl):
             for authreq in headers.get_all('www-authenticate', []):
                 scheme = authreq.split()[0].lower()
                 authreqs[scheme] = authreq
-            if 'signature' in authreqs and self.signatureauthhandler and \
-                    (self.signatureauthhandler.sshkey_known() or 'basic' not in authreqs):
+
+            if 'signature' in authreqs \
+                and self.signatureauthhandler \
+                and (
+                    # sshkey explicitly set in the config file, use it instead of doing basic auth
+                    self.signatureauthhandler.sshkey_known()
+                    or (
+                        # can't fall-back to basic auth, because server doesn't support it
+                        'basic' not in authreqs
+                        # can't fall-back to basic auth, because there's no password provided
+                        or not self.passwd.find_user_password(None, apiurl)[1]
+                    )):
                 del headers['www-authenticate']
                 headers['www-authenticate'] = authreqs['signature']
                 return self.signatureauthhandler.http_error_401(req, fp, code, msg, headers)
+
             if 'basic' in authreqs:
                 del headers['www-authenticate']
                 headers['www-authenticate'] = authreqs['basic']
+
             response = super(self.__class__, self).http_error_401(req, fp, code, msg, headers)
             # workaround for http://bugs.python.org/issue9639
             if hasattr(self, 'retried'):
@@ -565,7 +577,7 @@ def _build_opener(apiurl):
             proc = subprocess.Popen(cmd, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
             stdout, _ = proc.communicate()
             if proc.returncode == 0 and stdout.strip():
-                return stdout.splitlines()
+                return [self.get_fingerprint(line) for line in stdout.splitlines()]
             else:
                 return []
 
@@ -584,21 +596,43 @@ def _build_opener(apiurl):
                     return True
             return False
 
+        def is_ssh_public_keyfile(self, keyfile_path):
+            if not os.path.isfile(keyfile_path):
+                return False
+            return keyfile_path.endswith(".pub")
+
+        @staticmethod
+        def get_fingerprint(line):
+            parts = line.strip().split(b" ")
+            if len(parts) < 2:
+                raise ValueError("Unable to retrieve ssh key fingerprint from line: {}".format(line))
+            return parts[1]
+
         def list_ssh_dir_keys(self):
             sshdir = os.path.expanduser('~/.ssh')
             keys_in_home_ssh = {}
             for keyfile in os.listdir(sshdir):
-                if keyfile.endswith(".pub"):
+                if keyfile.startswith(("agent-", "authorized_keys", "config", "known_hosts")):
+                    # skip files that definitely don't contain keys
                     continue
+
                 keyfile_path = os.path.join(sshdir, keyfile)
-                if not self.is_ssh_private_keyfile(keyfile_path):
+                # public key alone may be sufficient because the private key
+                # can get loaded into ssh-agent from gpg (yubikey works this way)
+                is_public = self.is_ssh_public_keyfile(keyfile_path)
+                # skip private detection if we think the key is a public one already
+                is_private = False if is_public else self.is_ssh_private_keyfile(keyfile_path)
+
+                if not is_public and not is_private:
                     continue
+
                 cmd = ["ssh-keygen", "-lf", keyfile_path]
                 proc = subprocess.Popen(cmd, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
                 stdout, _ = proc.communicate()
                 if proc.returncode == 0:
-                    fingerprint = stdout.strip()
-                    if fingerprint:
+                    fingerprint = self.get_fingerprint(stdout)
+                    if fingerprint and (fingerprint not in keys_in_home_ssh or is_private):
+                        # prefer path to a private key
                         keys_in_home_ssh[fingerprint] = keyfile_path
             return keys_in_home_ssh