diff --git a/src/fpm_meta.f90 b/src/fpm_meta.f90
index 6e35ec5812..96c1148854 100644
--- a/src/fpm_meta.f90
+++ b/src/fpm_meta.f90
@@ -659,7 +659,7 @@ logical function msmpi_init(this,compiler,error) result(found)
 
         endif
 
-        if (allocated(error) .or. .not.exists(bindir)) then
+        if (allocated(error)) then
             call fatal_error(error,'MS-MPI error: MS-MPI Runtime directory is missing. '//&
                                    'check environment variable %MSMPI_BIN% or that the folder is in %PATH%.')
             return