diff --git a/os/os2/svn_version.cmd b/os/os2/svn_version.cmd
index 2afa966b55..cc8836fc0b 100644
--- a/os/os2/svn_version.cmd
+++ b/os/os2/svn_version.cmd
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ rem
 rem Requires subversion (`svnversion') to be installed
 rem
 cd ..\..
-if not exist .svn goto nosvn
 if not "%RELEASE%"=="" goto forcerelease
+if not exist .svn goto nosvn
 svnversion -n . > os\os2\svnver.tmp
 if not "%ERRORLEVEL%"=="0" goto nosvn