diff --git a/test/precompile.jl b/test/precompile.jl
index baa68dc92d4bec..249152a4918635 100644
--- a/test/precompile.jl
+++ b/test/precompile.jl
@@ -1992,13 +1992,19 @@ precompile_test_harness("Issue #50538") do load_path
 end
 
 precompile_test_harness("Issue #52063") do load_path
-    write(joinpath(load_path, "I52063.jl"),
-        """
-        module I52063
-        include_dependency("i_do_not_exist.jl")
-        end
-        """)
-    @test_throws ArgumentError Base.compilecache(Base.PkgId("I50538"))
+    fname = joinpath(load_path, "i_do_not_exist.jl")
+    @test_throws ArgumentError include_dependency(fname)
+    touch(fname)
+    @test include_dependency(fname) === nothing
+    chmod(fname, 0x000)
+    @test_throws ArgumentError include_dependency(fname)
+    dir = mktempdir() do dir
+        @test include_dependency(dir) === nothing
+        chmod(dir, 0x000)
+        @test_throws ArgumentError include_dependency(dir)
+        dir
+    end
+    @test_throws ArgumentError include_dependency(dir)
 end
 
 empty!(Base.DEPOT_PATH)