diff --git a/lib/create-from-source.js b/lib/create-from-source.js
index f2d465d..b7bb0ef 100644
--- a/lib/create-from-source.js
+++ b/lib/create-from-source.js
@@ -139,7 +139,17 @@ exports.compileToFSM = (src, opts={}) => new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
                         // source, in case it does relative requires
                         // or reads from that relative location
                         const curdir = process.cwd()
-                        process.chdir(ui.findFile(dir))
+
+                        try {
+                            process.chdir(ui.findFile(dir))
+                        } catch (err) {
+                            if (dir.indexOf('@demos') >= 0) {
+                                // this is probably ok, if the dir is one of our @demos
+                                console.error(err)
+                            } else {
+                                throw err
+                            }
+                        }
 
                         let res
                         try {