diff --git a/emacs.el b/emacs.el
index faad85e..feb7bf2 100644
--- a/emacs.el
+++ b/emacs.el
@@ -2204,6 +2204,7 @@ ARG is ignored."
     ;; gnu global
     ("global"
      (and (require 'gtags nil t)
+          (executable-find "global")
           (gtags-get-rootpath))
      "global --result grep ")