diff --git a/tst/testall.g b/tst/testall.g
index 70f56f7..d5e94c7 100755
--- a/tst/testall.g
+++ b/tst/testall.g
@@ -14,10 +14,20 @@ if not UtilsLoadingComplete then
     ReadPackage( "utils", "tst/loadall.g" ); 
 fi; 
 
-# Create/update the testfiles containing the manual examples.
-# (The "nopdf" option informs AutoDoc that it can skip generating
-# PDF files, which makes this much faster)
-ReadPackage( "utils", "makedoc.g" : nopdf );
+tstdir:= DirectoriesPackageLibrary( "utils", "tst" );
+tstfile:= Filename( tstdir[1], "utils01.tst" );
+tstdir:= Filename( tstdir, "" );
+if IsWritableFile( tstdir ) and
+   ( IsWritableFile( tstfile ) or not IsExistingFile( tstfile ) ) then
+  # Create/update the testfiles containing the manual examples.
+  # (The "nopdf" option informs AutoDoc that it can skip generating
+  # PDF files, which makes this much faster)
+  ReadPackage( "utils", "makedoc.g" : nopdf );
+elif not IsExistingFile( tstfile ) then
+  Print( "The testfiles with manual examples are missing ",
+         "and cannot get written.\n" );
+  QUIT_GAP(1);
+fi;
 
 dir := DirectoriesPackageLibrary( "utils", "tst" );
 TestDirectory(dir, rec(exitGAP := true,