diff --git a/fairmq/options/FairProgOptions.h b/fairmq/options/FairProgOptions.h
index 21c6d125..1514e2b0 100644
--- a/fairmq/options/FairProgOptions.h
+++ b/fairmq/options/FairProgOptions.h
@@ -102,6 +102,11 @@ class FairProgOptions
     // convert value to string that corresponds to the key
     std::string GetStringValue(const std::string& key);
 
+    int Count(const std::string& key) const
+    {
+        return fVarMap.count(key);
+    }
+
     //restrict conversion to fundamental types
     template<typename T>
     T ConvertTo(const std::string& strValue)
diff --git a/fairmq/tools/runSimpleMQStateMachine.h b/fairmq/tools/runSimpleMQStateMachine.h
index 646324e0..b86c8ae5 100644
--- a/fairmq/tools/runSimpleMQStateMachine.h
+++ b/fairmq/tools/runSimpleMQStateMachine.h
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ template<typename TMQDevice>
 inline int runStateMachine(TMQDevice& device, FairMQProgOptions& cfg)
 {
     device.RegisterChannelEndpoints();
-    if (cfg.GetValue<bool>("print-channels"))
+    if (cfg.Count("print-channels"))
     {
         device.PrintRegisteredChannels();
         device.ChangeState(TMQDevice::END);