diff --git a/scripts/checkpatch.pl b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
index c71a0fae84df5a646d3bfb124937204c747035af..5ffc940399bef6cb8f9ba73e7b8e2559e75eac02 100755
--- a/scripts/checkpatch.pl
+++ b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
@@ -1240,7 +1240,8 @@ sub process {
 			$realfile =~ s@^([^/]*)/@@;
 
 			$p1_prefix = $1;
-			if ($tree && $p1_prefix ne '' && -e "$root/$p1_prefix") {
+			if (!$file && $tree && $p1_prefix ne '' &&
+			    -e "$root/$p1_prefix") {
 				WARN("patch prefix '$p1_prefix' exists, appears to be a -p0 patch\n");
 			}