diff --git a/doc/source/conf.py b/doc/source/conf.py
index 127613d..2edaddb 100644
--- a/doc/source/conf.py
+++ b/doc/source/conf.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 import sys
 import os
 import subprocess
+import warnings
 
 # Build the plugin registry
 def build_plugin_registry(app):
@@ -140,9 +141,13 @@
 # using the given strftime format.
 git_cmd = ["git", "log", "--pretty=format:'%ad, commit %h'", "--date=local",
    "-n1"]
-html_last_updated_fmt = subprocess.Popen(git_cmd,
-                                         stdout=subprocess.PIPE).\
-                                         communicate()[0]
+try:
+    html_last_updated_fmt = subprocess.Popen(git_cmd,
+                                             stdout=subprocess.PIPE).\
+                                             communicate()[0]
+except Exception:
+    warnings.warn('Cannot get last updated time from git repository. '
+                  'Not setting "html_last_updated_fmt".')
 
 # If true, SmartyPants will be used to convert quotes and dashes to
 # typographically correct entities.