diff --git a/matlab/itaVA_build.m.proto b/matlab/itaVA_build.m.proto
index 46d57c0ef587e9cd8a78e36fc776545a5af6b2d6..e6828a5b8caf040407f7eec004f58324971b1529 100644
--- a/matlab/itaVA_build.m.proto
+++ b/matlab/itaVA_build.m.proto
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ else
     addpath( script_dir, deploy_dir )
 
     [ s ] = movefile( fullfile( lib_dir, 'VAMatlab*' ), deploy_dir );
-    if ~s && ~exist( [ 'VAMatlab' mexext ], 'file' )
+    if ~s && ~exist( [ 'VAMatlab' '.' mexext ], 'file' )
         error( 'Could locate VAMatlab executable. Please make sure that it can be found.' )
     end
 end