diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 1f7a7f81..7d323fbb 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ if(EXISTS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/.git)
         OUTPUT_VARIABLE GIT_REV)
         string(REGEX REPLACE "\n$" "" PACKAGE_VERSION "${GIT_REV}")
 endif()
-if(NOT EXISTS ${PACKAGE_VERSION})
+if(NOT PACKAGE_VERSION)
     set(PACKAGE_VERSION ${VERSION_PLAIN})
 endif()