diff --git a/cmd/release/main_test.go b/cmd/release/main_test.go
index 7c776f4..540caac 100644
--- a/cmd/release/main_test.go
+++ b/cmd/release/main_test.go
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ var _ = Describe("Main", func() {
 			Eventually(session).Should(gexec.Exit(expectedErrorCode))
 		},
 		Entry("When there is no chaincode metadata", 0, func() []string {
-			return []string{"BUILD_OUTPUT_DIR", "RELEASE_OUTPUT_DIR"}
+			return []string{"./testdata/buildwithoutindexes", "RELEASE_OUTPUT_DIR"}
 		}),
 		Entry("When there is chaincode metadata", 0, func() []string {
 			return []string{"./testdata/buildwithindexes", tempDir}
diff --git a/cmd/release/testdata/buildwithindexes/image.json b/cmd/release/testdata/buildwithindexes/image.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..313f1e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/release/testdata/buildwithindexes/image.json
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+{
+  "name": "ghcr.io/hyperledger/asset-transfer-basic",
+  "digest": "sha256:b35962f000d26ad046d4102f22d70a1351692fc69a9ddead89dfa13aefb942a7"
+}
diff --git a/cmd/release/testdata/buildwithoutindexes/image.json b/cmd/release/testdata/buildwithoutindexes/image.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..313f1e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/release/testdata/buildwithoutindexes/image.json
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+{
+  "name": "ghcr.io/hyperledger/asset-transfer-basic",
+  "digest": "sha256:b35962f000d26ad046d4102f22d70a1351692fc69a9ddead89dfa13aefb942a7"
+}
diff --git a/internal/util/copy.go b/internal/util/copy.go
index 6eb1715..700e212 100644
--- a/internal/util/copy.go
+++ b/internal/util/copy.go
@@ -41,9 +41,13 @@ func CopyImageJSON(logger *log.CmdLogger, src, dest string) error {
 
 // CopyIndexFiles copies CouchDB index definitions from source to destination directories.
 func CopyIndexFiles(logger *log.CmdLogger, src, dest string) error {
-	logger.Debugf("Copying couchdb index files from %s to %s", src, dest)
+	indexDir := filepath.Join("statedb", "couchdb")
+	indexSrcDir := filepath.Join(src, MetadataDir, indexDir)
+	indexDestDir := filepath.Join(dest, indexDir)
+
+	logger.Debugf("Copying couchdb index files from %s to %s", indexSrcDir, indexDestDir)
 
-	_, err := os.Lstat(src)
+	_, err := os.Lstat(indexSrcDir)
 	if err != nil {
 		if os.IsNotExist(err) {
 			// indexes are optional
@@ -53,10 +57,6 @@ func CopyIndexFiles(logger *log.CmdLogger, src, dest string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	indexDir := filepath.Join("statedb", "couchdb")
-	indexSrcDir := filepath.Join(src, MetadataDir, indexDir)
-	indexDestDir := filepath.Join(dest, indexDir)
-
 	opt := copy.Options{
 		Skip: func(info os.FileInfo, src, _ string) (bool, error) {
 			logger.Debugf("Checking source copy path: %s", src)