diff --git a/precommit-hook.sh b/precommit-hook.sh
index 5e8681c8..2c97630d 100755
--- a/precommit-hook.sh
+++ b/precommit-hook.sh
@@ -1,20 +1,26 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 # Installation: ln -s ../../precommit-hook.sh .git/hooks/pre-commit
 
-for directory in patches debian; do
-	if git status --porcelain "$directory" | grep "^.[^ ]" &> /dev/null; then
-		echo ""
-		echo "*** PLEASE ADD OR STASH YOUR CHANGES IN $directory ***"
-		echo ""
-		exit 1
-	fi
-done
+warning()
+{
+	echo ""
+	echo "*** $1 ***"
+	echo ""
+}
+
+if git status --porcelain "debian" | grep "^.[^ ]" &> /dev/null; then
+	warning "PLEASE ADD OR STASH YOUR CHANGES IN debian"
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+if git status --porcelain "patches" | grep -v "^.\\?.*\\.py$" | grep "^.[^ ]" &> /dev/null; then
+	warning "PLEASE ADD OR STASH YOUR CHANGES IN patches"
+	exit 1
+fi
 
 git diff --cached --name-status | while read status file; do
 	if [[ "$file" =~ ^patches/ ]] || [[ "$file" =~ ^debian/tools/ ]] || [[ "$file" =~ ^debian/changelog ]]; then
-		echo ""
-		echo "*** UPDATING AUTOGENERATED FILES ***"
-		echo ""
+		warning "UPDATING AUTOGENERATED FILES"
 		debian/tools/patchupdate.py || exit 1
 		break;
 	fi