diff --git a/contrib/debian/rules b/contrib/debian/rules
index d902ca053..abbd75b56 100755
--- a/contrib/debian/rules
+++ b/contrib/debian/rules
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ endif
 override_dh_builddeb:
 	dh_builddeb
 ifeq (ubuntu,$(SB_STYLE))
-	if [ -d debian/tmp/usr/libexec/fwupd/efi/ ]; then \
+	set -e; if [ -d debian/tmp/usr/libexec/fwupd/efi/ ]; then \
 		mkdir -p debian/fwupd-images/$(deb_version) ;\
 		cp debian/tmp/usr/libexec/fwupd/efi/fwupd*.efi debian/fwupd-images/$(deb_version) ;\
 		echo $(deb_version) > debian/fwupd-images/$(deb_version)/version ;\