diff --git a/scripts/scm.sh b/scripts/scm.sh
index 7b6201a8..8f726eb7 100644
--- a/scripts/scm.sh
+++ b/scripts/scm.sh
@@ -120,8 +120,8 @@ cmd_ls_files()
 			list_dirents_cvs $1
 			return
 		fi
-		git status >/dev/null 2>&1 || {
-			echo "failed to list versioned files in $1: no VCS" >&2
+		git -C $1 status >/dev/null 2>&1 || {
+			echo "failed to list versioned files in $(realpath $1): no VCS" >&2
 			exit 1
 		}
 		list_dirents_git $1