diff --git a/check-guile.in b/check-guile.in
index ed571becb..8c350f258 100644
--- a/check-guile.in
+++ b/check-guile.in
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 set -e
 
 # this script runs in the top-level build-dir.
-top_builddir=@srcdir@
+top_builddir=`pwd`
 
 top_srcdir=@top_srcdir@