diff --git a/scripts/lib/devtool/standard.py b/scripts/lib/devtool/standard.py
index cd79c7802c..55fa38ccfb 100644
--- a/scripts/lib/devtool/standard.py
+++ b/scripts/lib/devtool/standard.py
@@ -1530,6 +1530,11 @@ def _update_recipe_srcrev(recipename, workspace, srctree, rd, appendlayerdir, wi
     recipedir = os.path.basename(recipefile)
     logger.info('Updating SRCREV in recipe %s%s' % (recipedir, dry_run_suffix))
 
+    # Get original SRCREV
+    old_srcrev = rd.getVar('SRCREV') or ''
+    if old_srcrev == "INVALID":
+            raise DevtoolError('Update mode srcrev is only valid for recipe fetched from an SCM repository')
+
     # Get HEAD revision
     try:
         stdout, _ = bb.process.run('git rev-parse HEAD', cwd=srctree)
@@ -1556,7 +1561,6 @@ def _update_recipe_srcrev(recipename, workspace, srctree, rd, appendlayerdir, wi
         if not no_remove:
             # Find list of existing patches in recipe file
             patches_dir = tempfile.mkdtemp(dir=tempdir)
-            old_srcrev = rd.getVar('SRCREV') or ''
             upd_p, new_p, del_p = _export_patches(srctree, rd, old_srcrev,
                                                   patches_dir)
             logger.debug('Patches: update %s, new %s, delete %s' % (dict(upd_p), dict(new_p), dict(del_p)))