diff --git a/contrib/debian/rules b/contrib/debian/rules
index 326a556e9..ea9d41e32 100755
--- a/contrib/debian/rules
+++ b/contrib/debian/rules
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ override_dh_install:
 	[ ! -d debian/tmp/lib/modules-load.d ] || dh_install -pfwupd lib/modules-load.d
 
 	#install docs (maybe)
-	[ -d debian/usr/share/doc ] || dh_install -pfwupd-doc usr/share/doc
+	[ ! -d debian/tmp/usr/share/doc ] || dh_install -pfwupd-doc usr/share/doc
 
 	dh_missing -a --fail-missing