diff --git a/distributions/openhab/src/main/resources/userdata/etc/org.apache.karaf.shell.cfg b/distributions/openhab/src/main/resources/userdata/etc/org.apache.karaf.shell.cfg
index 8b44b2b397..46017e2c4d 100644
--- a/distributions/openhab/src/main/resources/userdata/etc/org.apache.karaf.shell.cfg
+++ b/distributions/openhab/src/main/resources/userdata/etc/org.apache.karaf.shell.cfg
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ hostKey = ${karaf.etc}/host.key
 # The format used for hostKey.
 # Possible values are simple (Karaf internal), or PEM (OpenSSH format)
 #
-hostKeyFormat = PEM
+hostKeyFormat = simple
 
 #
 # Role name used for SSH access authorization