diff --git a/.hgtags b/.hgtags
--- a/.hgtags
+++ b/.hgtags
@@ -19,3 +19,4 @@ de00a831a0709ffaac57f948738ea927b97223a9
 57f527e0646d731768fb5e0fe742b12a35bdc63b v4.7.1
 f9b09787da9845e4a105f4bffdc252099902cefb v4.7.2
 0b7c790b726f08385e6ebdf4f257c905787b9244 v4.8.0
+f4123e725b74d0e82fe89982ab8791a66062e2b3 v4.9.0
diff --git a/vcsserver/svn.py b/vcsserver/svn.py
--- a/vcsserver/svn.py
+++ b/vcsserver/svn.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 
 from __future__ import absolute_import
 
+import os
 from urllib2 import URLError
 import logging
 import posixpath as vcspath
@@ -89,6 +90,8 @@ class SubversionFactory(RepoFactory):
             repo = svn.repos.create(path, "", "", None, fs_config)
         else:
             repo = svn.repos.open(path)
+
+        log.debug('Got SVN object: %s', repo)
         return repo
 
     def repo(self, wire, create=False, compatible_version=None):
@@ -138,6 +141,14 @@ class SvnRemote(object):
         return True
 
     def is_path_valid_repository(self, wire, path):
+
+        # NOTE(marcink):  short circuit the check for SVN repo
+        # the repos.open might be expensive to check, but we have one cheap
+        # pre condition that we can use, to check for 'format' file
+
+        if not os.path.isfile(os.path.join(path, 'format')):
+            return False
+
         try:
             svn.repos.open(path)
         except svn.core.SubversionException: