diff --git a/meta/recipes-core/busybox/files/hwclock.sh b/meta/recipes-core/busybox/files/hwclock.sh
index cc6d2862ba..be5f94d86c 100644
--- a/meta/recipes-core/busybox/files/hwclock.sh
+++ b/meta/recipes-core/busybox/files/hwclock.sh
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 
 [ ! -x /sbin/hwclock ] && exit 0
 
-. /etc/default/rcS
+[ -f /etc/default/rcS ] && . /etc/default/rcS
 
 [ "$UTC" = "yes" ] && tz="--utc" || tz="--localtime"
 case "$1" in