diff --git a/AMBuildScript b/AMBuildScript
index 83ad62ca..b4541d3c 100644
--- a/AMBuildScript
+++ b/AMBuildScript
@@ -73,7 +73,9 @@ class SMConfig(object):
     self.versionlib = None
 
   def use_auto_versioning(self):
-    return builder.backend == 'amb2' and not builder.options.disable_auto_versioning
+    if builder.backend != 'amb2':
+      return False
+    return not getattr(builder.options, 'disable_auto_versioning', False)
 
   @property
   def tag(self):