diff --git a/setup.c b/setup.c
index 89fcc12ab7..1de87ed842 100644
--- a/setup.c
+++ b/setup.c
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ void verify_filename(const char *prefix,
 {
 	if (*arg == '-')
 		die("bad flag '%s' used after filename", arg);
-	if (check_filename(prefix, arg) || looks_like_pathspec(arg))
+	if (looks_like_pathspec(arg) || check_filename(prefix, arg))
 		return;
 	die_verify_filename(prefix, arg, diagnose_misspelt_rev);
 }