diff --git a/tools/find_apps.py b/tools/find_apps.py
index d97c93c5d6..0c25f4cdf1 100755
--- a/tools/find_apps.py
+++ b/tools/find_apps.py
@@ -134,16 +134,7 @@ def find_apps(build_system_class, path, recursive, exclude_list, target):
     """
     build_system_name = build_system_class.NAME
     logging.debug('Looking for {} apps in {}{}'.format(build_system_name, path, ' recursively' if recursive else ''))
-    if not recursive:
-        if exclude_list:
-            logging.warning('--exclude option is ignored when used without --recursive')
-        if not build_system_class.is_app(path):
-            logging.warning('Path {} specified without --recursive flag, but no {} app found there'.format(
-                path, build_system_name))
-            return []
-        return [path]
 
-    # The remaining part is for recursive == True
     apps_found = []  # type: typing.List[str]
     for root, dirs, _ in os.walk(path, topdown=True):
         logging.debug('Entering {}'.format(root))
@@ -167,6 +158,12 @@ def find_apps(build_system_class, path, recursive, exclude_list, target):
                     logging.debug('Skipping, app has no supported targets')
                 continue
 
+        if not recursive:
+            if not apps_found:
+                logging.warning('Path {} specified without --recursive flag, but no {} app found there'.format(
+                    path, build_system_name))
+            break  # only check the top-most dir if "recursive" is unflagged
+
     return apps_found