diff --git a/sys/conf/newvers.sh b/sys/conf/newvers.sh
index 9b3b84b06186..c06eeaf17686 100644
--- a/sys/conf/newvers.sh
+++ b/sys/conf/newvers.sh
@@ -52,7 +52,11 @@ else
 fi
 
 b=share/examples/etc/bsd-style-copyright
-year=$(sed -Ee '/^Copyright .* The FreeBSD Project/!d;s/^.*1992-([0-9]*) .*$/\1/g' ${SYSDIR}/../COPYRIGHT)
+if [ -r "${SYSDIR}/../COPYRIGHT" ]; then
+	year=$(sed -Ee '/^Copyright .* The FreeBSD Project/!d;s/^.*1992-([0-9]*) .*$/\1/g' ${SYSDIR}/../COPYRIGHT)
+else
+	year=$(date +%Y)
+fi
 # look for copyright template
 for bsd_copyright in ../$b ../../$b ../../../$b /usr/src/$b /usr/$b
 do