--- dh_installman	2015-09-01 16:22:49.460147000 +0000
+++ dh_installman	2015-09-01 16:35:30.149956000 +0000
@@ -201,7 +201,8 @@ 
 	}
 
 	# Now utf-8 conversion.
-	if (defined `man --version`) {
+	my $man_version = `man --version 2>/dev/null`;
+	if (defined $man_version && length($man_version)) {
 		foreach my $dir (qw{usr/share/man}) {
 			next unless -e "$tmp/$dir";
 			find(sub {