diff --git a/src/svn_version.sh b/src/svn_version.sh
index 26c9767d..1ed25116 100755
--- a/src/svn_version.sh
+++ b/src/svn_version.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
 
 ## 
 # update svn_version.h when the revision has changed
-svn_version=$(svn info .. | grep ^Revision | cut -f 2 -d' ')
+svn_version=$(svn info .. 2>/dev/null | grep ^Revision | cut -f 2 -d' ')
+if [ -z "$svn_version" ]; then svn_version=0 ; fi
 if [ -e svn_version.h ]; then
 	old=$(cut -f 3 -d' ' svn_version.h)
 	if [ "$old" != "$svn_version" ]; then