diff --git a/src/Composer/Util/Git.php b/src/Composer/Util/Git.php
index 9678020bc..5d84ebbf3 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Util/Git.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Util/Git.php
@@ -214,6 +214,9 @@ class Git
 
     private function throwException($message, $url)
     {
+        // git might delete a directory when it fails and php will not know
+        clearstatcache();
+
         if (0 !== $this->process->execute('git --version', $ignoredOutput)) {
             throw new \RuntimeException('Failed to clone '.self::sanitizeUrl($url).', git was not found, check that it is installed and in your PATH env.' . "\n\n" . $this->process->getErrorOutput());
         }