diff --git a/scripts/depmod.sh b/scripts/depmod.sh
index 9831cca..f41b0a4 100755
--- a/scripts/depmod.sh
+++ b/scripts/depmod.sh
@@ -11,10 +11,16 @@
 KERNELRELEASE=$2
 SYMBOL_PREFIX=$3
 
-if ! test -r System.map -a -x "$DEPMOD"; then
+if ! test -r System.map ; then
 	exit 0
 fi
 
+if [ -z $(command -v $DEPMOD) ]; then
+	echo "'make modules_install' requires $DEPMOD. Please install it." >&2
+	echo "This is probably in the kmod package." >&2
+	exit 1
+fi
+
 # older versions of depmod don't support -P <symbol-prefix>
 # support was added in module-init-tools 3.13
 if test -n "$SYMBOL_PREFIX"; then