diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 34977ee..62e9f16 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
+*.sublime-*
 node_modules
 .idea
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 188522c..611724d 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -217,7 +217,9 @@ module.exports = function (options, callback) {
                 username: options.username
             };
 
-            if (options.password) {
+            if (options.privateKey) {
+                connection_options.privateKey = options.privateKey;
+            } else if (options.password) {
                 connection_options.password = options.password;
             }