diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 36a8b7e0c5..91b2fb27e1 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -539,7 +539,7 @@ oldmodcheck:
 	fi
 
 badshell:
-ifneq ($(findstring ~,$(DESTDIR)),)
+ifneq ($(filter ~%,$(DESTDIR)),)
 	@echo "Your shell doesn't do ~ expansion when expected (specifically, when doing \"make install DESTDIR=~/path\")."
 	@echo "Try replacing ~ with \$$HOME, as in \"make install DESTDIR=\$$HOME/path\"."
 	@exit 1