diff --git a/doc/build.rs b/doc/build.rs
index 4dd59fd0b0..29f1b44a07 100644
--- a/doc/build.rs
+++ b/doc/build.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 use std::env;
+use std::path::Path;
 use std::process::Command;
 
 fn main() {
@@ -10,6 +11,9 @@ fn main() {
         let git_hash = String::from_utf8(output.stdout).unwrap();
         println!("cargo:rustc-env=GIT_HASH={}", git_hash);
     }
-    // This is the closest thing to making sure we rebuild this every time a new commit is made
-    println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed=../.git/COMMIT_EDITMSG");
+    let git_edit_msg = "../.git/COMMIT_EDITMSG";
+    if Path::new(git_edit_msg).exists() {
+        // This is the closest thing to making sure we rebuild this every time a new commit is made
+        println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed={}", git_edit_msg);
+    }
 }