diff --git a/make-distribution.sh b/make-distribution.sh
index 78827341b9..a2b0c431fb 100755
--- a/make-distribution.sh
+++ b/make-distribution.sh
@@ -229,10 +229,13 @@ cp "$SPARK_HOME"/conf/*.template "$DISTDIR"/conf
 cp "$SPARK_HOME/README.md" "$DISTDIR"
 cp -r "$SPARK_HOME/bin" "$DISTDIR"
 cp -r "$SPARK_HOME/python" "$DISTDIR"
-mkdir -p "$DISTDIR"/R/lib
-cp -r "$SPARK_HOME/R/lib/SparkR" "$DISTDIR"/R/lib
 cp -r "$SPARK_HOME/sbin" "$DISTDIR"
 cp -r "$SPARK_HOME/ec2" "$DISTDIR"
+# Copy SparkR if it exists
+if [ -d "$SPARK_HOME"/R/lib/SparkR ]; then
+  mkdir -p "$DISTDIR"/R/lib
+  cp -r "$SPARK_HOME/R/lib/SparkR" "$DISTDIR"/R/lib
+fi
 
 # Download and copy in tachyon, if requested
 if [ "$SPARK_TACHYON" == "true" ]; then