diff --git a/src/precompile.sh.in b/src/precompile.sh.in
index bb3391e8bc538e7880532c92159ecdbc92c89e86..8abd843bf0a9ea244cbc8e0d821d18171d5ca870 100644
--- a/src/precompile.sh.in
+++ b/src/precompile.sh.in
@@ -10,11 +10,11 @@ shift 1
 INPUT="`eval echo \"\\$$#\"`"
 TMPOUTPUT="${INPUT}.compiled"
 
-if [ -f "$TMPOUTPUT" -a \
-     "`ls -1t $TMPOUTPUT $INPUT $SCRIPT | head -1`" = "`ls -1t $TMPOUTPUT`" \
-   ]; then
-  cat "$TMPOUTPUT" >&5
-  exit 0
+if [ -f "$TMPOUTPUT" ]; then
+  if [ "`ls -1t $TMPOUTPUT $INPUT $SCRIPT | head -1`" = "`ls -1t $TMPOUTPUT`" ]; then
+    cat "$TMPOUTPUT" >&5
+    exit 0
+  fi
 fi
 
 TMP_BUILDDIR="@BUILDDIR@"