diff --git a/srcpkgs/readline/template b/srcpkgs/readline/template
index aa601ea707d..8d6f8b797fb 100644
--- a/srcpkgs/readline/template
+++ b/srcpkgs/readline/template
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ pre_configure()
 
 	if [ "${_patch_ver}" -gt 000 ]; then
 		for p in $(seq -w 001 ${_patch_ver}); do
+			cd ${XBPS_SRCDISTDIR} || return 1
 			[ -f ${XBPS_SRCDISTDIR}/readline60-${p} ] && continue
 			$XBPS_FETCH_CMD ${url}/readline60-$p
 		done