diff --git a/scripts/mkimage b/scripts/mkimage
index 1da5c30b81..518f117e52 100755
--- a/scripts/mkimage
+++ b/scripts/mkimage
@@ -233,9 +233,9 @@ elif [ "$BOOTLOADER" = "u-boot" ]; then
     fi
 
     echo "image: installing u-boot bootloader..."
-    if [ "$RELEASE_DIR/3rdparty/bootloader/SPL" ]; then
+    if [ -f "$RELEASE_DIR/3rdparty/bootloader/SPL" ]; then
       dd if="$RELEASE_DIR/3rdparty/bootloader/SPL" of="$DISK" bs=512 seek=2 conv=notrunc
-    elif [ "$RELEASE_DIR/3rdparty/bootloader/u-boot.imx" ]; then
+    elif [ -f "$RELEASE_DIR/3rdparty/bootloader/u-boot.imx" ]; then
       dd if="$RELEASE_DIR/3rdparty/bootloader/u-boot.imx" of="$DISK" bs=512 seek=2 conv=notrunc
     fi