diff --git a/dev/codeserver/java/com/google/gwt/dev/codeserver/Options.java b/dev/codeserver/java/com/google/gwt/dev/codeserver/Options.java
index d11c9ee..0ba0f06 100644
--- a/dev/codeserver/java/com/google/gwt/dev/codeserver/Options.java
+++ b/dev/codeserver/java/com/google/gwt/dev/codeserver/Options.java
@@ -705,7 +705,7 @@
       }
 
       File candidate = new File(args[startIndex + 1]);
-      if (!candidate.isDirectory()) {
+      if (candidate.exists() && !candidate.isDirectory()) {
         System.err.println("not a directory: " + candidate);
         return -1;
       }