diff --git a/ghc/utils/mkdependHS/mkdependHS.prl b/ghc/utils/mkdependHS/mkdependHS.prl
index 15502a71c267494839af69302d6b82e76f4d453d..e6426aaa9028378c5085ec5257085faf263f5503 100644
--- a/ghc/utils/mkdependHS/mkdependHS.prl
+++ b/ghc/utils/mkdependHS/mkdependHS.prl
@@ -217,7 +217,8 @@ unlink("$Makefile.bak");
 # 
 if ( ! -f $Makefile.bak ) {
    system("touch $Makefile.bak");
-} else {
+} 
+if ( -f $Makefile ) {
    rename($Makefile,"$Makefile.bak");
 }
 # now copy Makefile.bak into Makefile, rm'ing old dependencies