diff --git a/guix/git-download.scm b/guix/git-download.scm
index 9f6d20ee38..316835502c 100644
--- a/guix/git-download.scm
+++ b/guix/git-download.scm
@@ -146,7 +146,8 @@ absolute file name and STAT is the result of 'lstat'."
                           (line
                            (loop (cons line lines))))))
          (inodes      (map (lambda (file)
-                             (let ((stat (lstat file)))
+                             (let ((stat (lstat
+                                          (string-append directory "/" file))))
                                (cons (stat:dev stat) (stat:ino stat))))
                            files))
          (status      (close-pipe pipe)))