diff --git a/make/tag-rules.mk b/make/tag-rules.mk
index 2783ce62..54e76519 100644
--- a/make/tag-rules.mk
+++ b/make/tag-rules.mk
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
+ifneq ($(wildcard CVS),)
 tag.dist:
 	cvs tag $(TAG_VERSION)
 
 ftag.dist:
 	cvs tag -F $(TAG_VERSION)
+endif