diff --git a/stepmania/src/ThemeManager.cpp b/stepmania/src/ThemeManager.cpp
index 1e93bc37a3..e9a5e83938 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/ThemeManager.cpp
+++ b/stepmania/src/ThemeManager.cpp
@@ -365,12 +365,16 @@ try_element_again:
 					if( !IsADirectory(asPaths[p]) )
 						continue;
 					
+#ifdef DEBUG
+					// Ignore empty directories so that we don't have to wait to test changes until 
+					// CVS is updated and prunes the empties.
 					vector<CString> vs;
 					GetDirListing( asPaths[p]+"/*", vs, false, false );
 					StripCvs( vs );
 					bool bDirIsEmpty = vs.empty();
 					if( bDirIsEmpty )
 						continue;
+#endif
 				}
 
 				if( ext == asset_masks[i] || !strcmp(asset_masks[i], "*") )