diff --git a/scripts/checkpatch.pl b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
index 0ea2a1e24ade..464dcef79b35 100755
--- a/scripts/checkpatch.pl
+++ b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
@@ -471,7 +471,7 @@ sub seed_camelcase_includes {
 
 	$camelcase_seeded = 1;
 
-	if (-d ".git") {
+	if (-e ".git") {
 		my $git_last_include_commit = `git log --no-merges --pretty=format:"%h%n" -1 -- include`;
 		chomp $git_last_include_commit;
 		$camelcase_cache = ".checkpatch-camelcase.git.$git_last_include_commit";
@@ -499,7 +499,7 @@ sub seed_camelcase_includes {
 		return;
 	}
 
-	if (-d ".git") {
+	if (-e ".git") {
 		$files = `git ls-files "include/*.h"`;
 		@include_files = split('\n', $files);
 	}