diff --git a/src/nimble.nim b/src/nimble.nim
index e923eec49..a6478f77f 100644
--- a/src/nimble.nim
+++ b/src/nimble.nim
@@ -1043,8 +1043,10 @@ proc test(options: Options) =
   ## Subdirectories are not walked.
   var pkgInfo = getPkgInfo(getCurrentDir(), options)
 
+  let testsDir = getCurrentDir() / "tests"
+  var files: seq[typeof(walkDir(testsDir))]
+  if testsDir.existsDir: files = toSeq(walkDir(testsDir))
   var
-    files = toSeq(walkDir(getCurrentDir() / "tests"))
     tests, failures: int
 
   if files.len < 1:
diff --git a/src/nimblepkg/packageinfo.nim b/src/nimblepkg/packageinfo.nim
index f00c59f3e..3b6105cad 100644
--- a/src/nimblepkg/packageinfo.nim
+++ b/src/nimblepkg/packageinfo.nim
@@ -516,7 +516,9 @@ proc iterInstallFiles*(realDir: string, pkgInfo: PackageInfo,
       iterFilesInDir(src, action)
 
     iterFilesWithExt(realDir, pkgInfo, action)
-  else:
+  elif existsDir(realDir):
+    # check `existsDir` for things like:
+    # "C:\\Users\\foo\\.nimble\\pkgs\\chroma-0.1.0\\src
     for kind, file in walkDir(realDir):
       if kind == pcDir:
         let skip = pkgInfo.checkInstallDir(realDir, file)