diff --git a/etc/periodic/daily/200.backup-passwd b/etc/periodic/daily/200.backup-passwd
index c312d8288171..5c585aff5f3c 100755
--- a/etc/periodic/daily/200.backup-passwd
+++ b/etc/periodic/daily/200.backup-passwd
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@ case "$daily_backup_passwd_enable" in
 	    then
 		[ $rc -lt 1 ] && rc=1
 		echo "$host passwd diffs:"
-		diff $bak/master.passwd.bak /etc/master.passwd |\
-			sed 's/^\([<>] [^#][^:]*\):[^:]*:/\1:(password):/'
+		diff -I '^#' $bak/master.passwd.bak /etc/master.passwd |\
+			sed 's/^\([<>] [^:]*\):[^:]*:/\1:(password):/'
 		mv $bak/master.passwd.bak $bak/master.passwd.bak2
 		cp -p /etc/master.passwd $bak/master.passwd.bak || rc=3
 	    fi