diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/setup-hooks/make-wrapper.sh b/pkgs/build-support/setup-hooks/make-wrapper.sh
index cba158bd31ea..1ba5a2a9c0c7 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/setup-hooks/make-wrapper.sh
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/setup-hooks/make-wrapper.sh
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 # assertExecutable FILE
 assertExecutable() {
     local file="$1"
+    [[ -e "$file" ]] || \
+        die "Cannot wrap '$file' because it does not exist"
     [[ -f "$file" && -x "$file" ]] || \
         die "Cannot wrap '$file' because it is not an executable file"
 }