diff --git a/bootstrap b/bootstrap
index 2b2c044..3d2c8ef 100755
--- a/bootstrap
+++ b/bootstrap
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ func_update ()
 ## ---------------- ##
 
 # See if we can use gnulib's git-merge-changelog merge driver.
-if test -d .git && (git --version) >/dev/null 2>/dev/null ; then
+if test -e .git && (git --version) >/dev/null 2>/dev/null ; then
   if git config merge.merge-changelog.driver >/dev/null ; then
     :
   elif (git-merge-changelog --version) >/dev/null 2>/dev/null ; then
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ fi
 ## Update the gnulib module tree. ##
 ## ------------------------------ ##
 
-if test -d .git && (git --version) >/dev/null 2>/dev/null ; then
+if test -e .git && (git --version) >/dev/null 2>/dev/null ; then
   if test -f gnulib/gnulib-tool ; then
     func_echo "updating gnulib submodule"
     git submodule update \