diff --git a/tools/firmware/Makefile b/tools/firmware/Makefile
index b924fde793..38338471fd 100644
--- a/tools/firmware/Makefile
+++ b/tools/firmware/Makefile
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ SUBDIRS += hvmloader
 
 .PHONY: all
 all:
-	@set -e; if [ $$((`bcc -v 2>&1 | grep version | cut -d' ' -f 3 | awk -F. '{ printf "0x%02x%02x%02x", $$1, $$2, $$3}'`)) -lt $$((0x00100e)) ] ; then \
+	@set -e; if [ $$((`( bcc -v 2>&1 | grep version || echo 0.0.0 ) | cut -d' ' -f 3 | awk -F. '{ printf "0x%02x%02x%02x", $$1, $$2, $$3}'`)) -lt $$((0x00100e)) ] ; then \
 	echo "***********************************************************"; \
 	echo "Require dev86 package version >= 0.16.14 to build firmware!"; \
 	echo "(visit http://www.cix.co.uk/~mayday for more information)"; \