diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/RepositoryTestCase.java b/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/RepositoryTestCase.java
index 60b9462a0..60408054b 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/RepositoryTestCase.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/RepositoryTestCase.java
@@ -371,6 +371,8 @@ public static String lookup(Object l, String nameTemplate,
 	public static long fsTick(File lastFile) throws InterruptedException,
 			IOException {
 		long sleepTime = 1;
+		if (lastFile != null && !lastFile.exists())
+			throw new FileNotFoundException(lastFile.getPath());
 		File tmp = File.createTempFile("FileTreeIteratorWithTimeControl", null);
 		try {
 			long startTime = (lastFile == null) ? tmp.lastModified() : lastFile