diff --git a/master/buildbot/buildslave/ec2.py b/master/buildbot/buildslave/ec2.py
index c835ee92d..2fdba12fd 100644
--- a/master/buildbot/buildslave/ec2.py
+++ b/master/buildbot/buildslave/ec2.py
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ class EC2LatentBuildSlave(AbstractLatentBuildSlave):
                 aws_id_file_path = os.path.join(home, '.ec2', 'aws_id')
                 if not os.path.exists(aws_id_file_path):
                     aws_id_file_path = None
-            if aws_id_file_path and os.path.exists(aws_id_file_path):
+            if aws_id_file_path:
                 log.msg('WARNING: EC2LatentBuildSlave is using deprecated '
                         'aws_id file')
                 with open(aws_id_file_path, 'r') as aws_file: