diff --git a/configure b/configure
index b354e74185..fa83e2184f 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -1836,7 +1836,7 @@ fi
 # Consult white-list to determine whether to enable werror
 # by default.  Only enable by default for git builds
 if test -z "$werror" ; then
-    if test -d "$source_path/.git" && \
+    if test -e "$source_path/.git" && \
         { test "$linux" = "yes" || test "$mingw32" = "yes"; }; then
         werror="yes"
     else