diff --git a/tldp/doctypes/docbooksgml.py b/tldp/doctypes/docbooksgml.py
index 8c3c1e6..315c11a 100644
--- a/tldp/doctypes/docbooksgml.py
+++ b/tldp/doctypes/docbooksgml.py
@@ -117,11 +117,14 @@ class DocbookSGML(BaseDoctype, SignatureChecker):
     def cleaned_indexsgml(self):
         '''clean the junk from the output dir after building the index.sgml'''
         # -- be super cautious before removing a bunch of files
-        cwd = os.getcwd()
-        if not os.path.samefile(cwd, self.output.dirname):
-            logger.error("%s (cowardly) refusing to clean directory %s", cwd)
-            logger.error("%s expected to find %s", self.output.dirname)
-            return False
+        if not self.config.script:
+            cwd = os.getcwd()
+            if not os.path.samefile(cwd, self.output.dirname):
+                logger.error("%s (cowardly) refusing to clean directory %s", 
+                             self.source.stem, cwd)
+                logger.error("%s expected to find %s", 
+                             self.source.stem, self.output.dirname)
+                return False
         s = '''find . -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -not -type d -delete -print'''
         return self.shellscript(s)