diff --git a/utils/podman b/utils/podman
index 0b7c7b8..4b0cb56 100644
--- a/utils/podman
+++ b/utils/podman
@@ -40,7 +40,9 @@ function startpod() {
   # check if network is needed
   if [[ -n $(jq -r .network.name "$(getValueByKey 'PODMAN_DIRECTORY')/${1}/config.json") ]]; then
     local network="$(jq -r .network.name $(getValueByKey 'PODMAN_DIRECTORY')/${1}/config.json)"
-    podman network create "$network"
+    if [[ -z $(podman network ls | grep "$network") ]]; then
+      podman network create "$network"
+    fi
   fi
 
   if [[ -n $(podman container ls | grep $(getLocalConfValue $(getValueByKey 'PODMAN_DIRECTORY')/${1} container.name)) ]]; then