diff --git a/nb b/nb
index 15c3052e5..ecdc7361b 100755
--- a/nb
+++ b/nb
@@ -9855,7 +9855,7 @@ __set_browse_server_tool() {
     if _command_exists "ncat"  && _command_exists "env"
     then # ncat is present and system is POSIX
       NB_BROWSE_SERVER_TOOL="ncat"
-    elif nc --help &/dev/null
+    elif _command_exists "nc" && nc --help &/dev/null
     then # GNU nc / netcat is present
       NB_BROWSE_SERVER_TOOL="nc"
     elif [[ "${BASH_VERSINFO[0]}" -ge 5             ]] &&