diff --git a/scripts/list-cvs-files.sh b/scripts/list-cvs-files.sh
index c92d383f..4a86c652 100644
--- a/scripts/list-cvs-files.sh
+++ b/scripts/list-cvs-files.sh
@@ -43,12 +43,13 @@ list_dirents()
 {
 	if [ -d $1/CVS ]; then
 		list_dirents_cvs $1
-	elif [ -d $1/.git ]; then
-		list_dirents_git $1
-	else
+		return
+	fi
+	git status >/dev/null 2>&1 || {
 		echo "failed to list versioned files in $1: no VCS" >&2
 		exit 1
-	fi
+	}
+	list_dirents_git $1
 }
 
 set -- `getopt f "$@"`