diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index 7679fa4bc..f8832ec5e 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -317,7 +317,14 @@ rule '.1' => '.xml' do |t|
     result
   end
 
-  runq "xsltproc", t.source, "#{c(:XSLTPROC)} #{c(:XSLTPROC_FLAGS)} -o #{t.name} #{c(:DOCBOOK_ROOT)}/manpages/docbook.xsl #{t.sources.join(" ")}", :filter_output => filter
+  stylesheet = "#{c(:DOCBOOK_ROOT)}/manpages/docbook.xsl"
+
+  if !FileTest.exists?(stylesheet)
+    puts "Error: the DocBook stylesheet '#{stylesheet}' does not exist."
+    exit 1
+  end
+
+  runq "xsltproc", t.source, "#{c(:XSLTPROC)} #{c(:XSLTPROC_FLAGS)} -o #{t.name} #{stylesheet} #{t.sources.join(" ")}", :filter_output => filter
 end
 
 $manpages.each do |manpage|