diff --git a/rust/runfiles/runfiles.rs b/rust/runfiles/runfiles.rs
index fe8c628245..e0568ae7d3 100644
--- a/rust/runfiles/runfiles.rs
+++ b/rust/runfiles/runfiles.rs
@@ -158,7 +158,12 @@ impl Runfiles {
         let mode = if let Some(manifest_file) = std::env::var_os(MANIFEST_FILE_ENV_VAR) {
             Self::create_manifest_based(Path::new(&manifest_file))?
         } else {
-            Mode::DirectoryBased(find_runfiles_dir()?)
+            let dir = find_runfiles_dir()?;
+            let manifest_path = dir.join("MANIFEST");
+            match manifest_path.exists() {
+                true => Self::create_manifest_based(&manifest_path)?,
+                false => Mode::DirectoryBased(dir),
+            }
         };
 
         let repo_mapping = raw_rlocation(&mode, "_repo_mapping")