diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 06a9a6638..145e5b01b 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ release:
 
 sign-release:
 	 +(set -e; \
-	  cd dist; \
+	  test $$(pwd | sed 's,.*/,,') = dist || cd dist; \
 	  x=$$(grep '^RELEASE_ARCHIVE=' $$HOME/.gnupg-autogen.rc|cut -d= -f2);\
           if [ -z "$$x" ]; then \
              echo "error: RELEASE_ARCHIVE missing in ~/.gnupg-autogen.rc">&2; \