diff --git a/puppet-resource_api.gemspec b/puppet-resource_api.gemspec
index 39810c94..e30ab8d4 100644
--- a/puppet-resource_api.gemspec
+++ b/puppet-resource_api.gemspec
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
   spec.summary       = 'This library provides a simple way to write new native resources for puppet.'
   spec.homepage      = 'https://github.com/puppetlabs/puppet-resource_api'
 
-  # on out internal jenkins, there is no `.git` directory, but since it is a clean machine, we don't need to worry about anything else
-  spec.files         = if Dir.exist?('.git')
+  # on out internal jenkins, there is no git, but since it is a clean machine, we don't need to worry about anything else
+  spec.files         = if system('git --help > /dev/null')
                          `git ls-files -z`.split("\x0")
                        else
                          Dir.glob('**/*')