diff --git a/makepanda/makepanda.py b/makepanda/makepanda.py
index ee0058fc20..2062ddba04 100755
--- a/makepanda/makepanda.py
+++ b/makepanda/makepanda.py
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ if (RUNTIME or RTDIST):
     if (DISTRIBUTOR.strip() == ""):
         exit("You must provide a valid distributor name when making a runtime or rtdist build!")
 
-    if (not CUSTOM_OUTPUTDIR):
+    if (not IsCustomOutputDir()):
         if (RTDIST):
             SetOutputDir("built_" + DISTRIBUTOR.strip())
         elif (RUNTIME):
diff --git a/makepanda/makepandacore.py b/makepanda/makepandacore.py
index 4d0a2ab4c5..42609a32a9 100644
--- a/makepanda/makepandacore.py
+++ b/makepanda/makepandacore.py
@@ -790,6 +790,9 @@ def SetVC90CRTVersion(fn, ver = None):
 def GetOutputDir():
   return OUTPUTDIR
 
+def IsCustomOutputDir():
+  return CUSTOM_OUTPUTDIR
+
 def SetOutputDir(outputdir):
   global OUTPUTDIR, CUSTOM_OUTPUTDIR
   OUTPUTDIR=outputdir