diff --git a/bob/devtools/build.py b/bob/devtools/build.py
index 0de250429b9d302a5e9c932b0bff89bcc134931b..51a81d8ee59f2ff9fefa153b93cd9100504ca195 100644
--- a/bob/devtools/build.py
+++ b/bob/devtools/build.py
@@ -525,7 +525,8 @@ def base_build(bootstrap, server, intranet, use_local, group, recipe_dir,
   # updates the local index to get fresh packages if required
   if use_local:
     prefix = get_env_directory(os.environ['CONDA_EXE'], 'base')
-    conda_build.api.update_index(os.path.join(prefix, 'conda-bld'))
+    conda_bld = os.path.join(prefix, 'conda-bld')
+    if os.path.exists(conda_bld): conda_build.api.update_index(conda_bld)
 
   logger.info('Merging conda configuration files...')
   if python_version not in ('noarch', None):
diff --git a/bob/devtools/scripts/build.py b/bob/devtools/scripts/build.py
index cebb03eb2cb9b6f09b49dc218c005900a5c4d8ac..5391de04f511779fdaca9124e9778b34948b8089 100644
--- a/bob/devtools/scripts/build.py
+++ b/bob/devtools/scripts/build.py
@@ -120,7 +120,8 @@ def build(recipe_dir, python, condarc, config, no_test, append_file,
 
   # updates the local index to get fresh packages if required
   if use_local:
-    conda_build.api.update_index(os.path.join(prefix, 'conda-bld'))
+    conda_bld = os.path.join(prefix, 'conda-bld')
+    if os.path.exists(conda_bld): conda_build.api.update_index(conda_bld)
 
   conda_config = make_conda_config(config, python, append_file,
       condarc_options)
diff --git a/bob/devtools/scripts/test.py b/bob/devtools/scripts/test.py
index d5e951fcc36dc1771c479cc5b3b71d34359d349d..9bab4f2d8bc8cc259328d3bdbed6d96a1760fabd 100644
--- a/bob/devtools/scripts/test.py
+++ b/bob/devtools/scripts/test.py
@@ -106,7 +106,8 @@ def test(package, condarc, config, append_file, server, group, private, stable,
   # updates the local index to get fresh packages if required
   if use_local and not dry_run:
     prefix = get_env_directory(os.environ['CONDA_EXE'], 'base')
-    conda_build.api.update_index(os.path.join(prefix, 'conda-bld'))
+    conda_bld = os.path.join(prefix, 'conda-bld')
+    if os.path.exists(conda_bld): conda_build.api.update_index(conda_bld)
 
   conda_config = make_conda_config(config, None, append_file,
       condarc_options)