diff --git a/howdy/src/compare.py b/howdy/src/compare.py
index 7efb41c..99f5285 100644
--- a/howdy/src/compare.py
+++ b/howdy/src/compare.py
@@ -140,11 +140,6 @@ except FileNotFoundError:
 if len(models) < 1:
 	exit(10)
 
-# notify the PAM module so that it issues a message
-sys.stdout.flush()
-print("HAS_MODEL")
-sys.stdout.flush()
-
 # Read config from disk
 config = configparser.ConfigParser()
 config.read(PATH + "/config.ini")
diff --git a/howdy/src/pam/main.cc b/howdy/src/pam/main.cc
index e60a915..89c7e98 100644
--- a/howdy/src/pam/main.cc
+++ b/howdy/src/pam/main.cc
@@ -243,9 +243,6 @@ auto identify(pam_handle_t *pamh, int flags, int argc, const char **argv,
   bindtextdomain(GETTEXT_PACKAGE, LOCALEDIR);
   textdomain(GETTEXT_PACKAGE);
 
-  // If enabled, send a notice to the user that facial login is being attempted
-  bool detection_notice = config.GetBoolean("core", "detection_notice", true);
-
   // Get the username from PAM, needed to match correct face model
   char *username = nullptr;
   if ((pam_res = pam_get_user(pamh, const_cast<const char **>(&username),
@@ -254,46 +251,30 @@ auto identify(pam_handle_t *pamh, int flags, int argc, const char **argv,
     return pam_res;
   }
 
-  int conv_pipe[2];
-
-  if (pipe (conv_pipe)) {
-    syslog(LOG_ERR, "Pipe failed.");
-    return PAM_SYSTEM_ERR;
+  // pre-check if this user has face model file
+  auto model_path = std::string("/etc/howdy/models/") + username + ".dat";
+  if (!std::ifstream(model_path)) {
+    return howdy_status(username, CompareError::NO_FACE_MODEL, config,
+                        conv_function);
+  } else if (config.GetBoolean("core", "detection_notice", true)) {
+    if ((conv_function(PAM_TEXT_INFO, S("Attempting facial authentication"))) !=
+        PAM_SUCCESS) {
+      syslog(LOG_ERR, "Failed to send detection notice");
+    }
   }
 
-  posix_spawn_file_actions_t action;
-  posix_spawn_file_actions_init(&action);
-  posix_spawn_file_actions_addclose(&action, conv_pipe[0]);
-  posix_spawn_file_actions_adddup2(&action, conv_pipe[1], 1);
-  posix_spawn_file_actions_addclose(&action, conv_pipe[1]);
-
   const char *const args[] = {PYTHON_EXECUTABLE, // NOLINT
                               COMPARE_PROCESS_PATH, username, nullptr};
   pid_t child_pid;
 
   // Start the python subprocess
-  if (posix_spawnp(&child_pid, PYTHON_EXECUTABLE, &action, nullptr,
+  if (posix_spawnp(&child_pid, PYTHON_EXECUTABLE, nullptr, nullptr,
                    const_cast<char *const *>(args), nullptr) != 0) {
     syslog(LOG_ERR, "Can't spawn the howdy process: %s (%d)", strerror(errno),
            errno);
     return PAM_SYSTEM_ERR;
   }
 
-  // show the PAM message from the compare script
-  optional_task<void> child_conv([&] {
-    char buffer[100];
-    while(read(conv_pipe[0], buffer, 100)) {
-      if (!strncmp(buffer, "HAS_MODEL", 9) && detection_notice) {
-        if ((conv_function(PAM_TEXT_INFO,
-                           S("Attempting facial authentication"))) !=
-            PAM_SUCCESS) {
-          syslog(LOG_ERR, "Failed to send detection notice");
-        }
-      }
-    }
-  });
-  child_conv.activate();
-
   // NOTE: We should replace mutex and condition_variable by atomic wait, but
   // it's too recent (C++20)
   std::mutex mutx;
@@ -370,7 +351,6 @@ auto identify(pam_handle_t *pamh, int flags, int argc, const char **argv,
 
   // The compare process has finished its execution
   child_task.stop(false);
-  child_conv.stop(true);
 
   // Get python process status code
   int status = child_task.get();