diff --git a/tools/Makefile.in b/tools/Makefile.in
index 039f1ea9..daa753c3 100644
--- a/tools/Makefile.in
+++ b/tools/Makefile.in
@@ -19,7 +19,11 @@ birdc-dep := client/all.o lib/birdlib.a
 
 $(birdc-dep): sysdep/paths.h .dep-stamp subdir
 
-subdir depend: sysdep/paths.h .dir-stamp
+depend: sysdep/paths.h .dir-stamp
+	set -e ; for a in $(dynamic-dirs) ; do $(MAKE) -C $$a $@ ; done
+	set -e ; for a in $(static-dirs) $(client-dirs) ; do $(MAKE) -C $$a -f $(srcdir_abs)/$$a/Makefile $@ ; done
+
+subdir: sysdep/paths.h .dir-stamp .dep-stamp
 	set -e ; for a in $(dynamic-dirs) ; do $(MAKE) -C $$a $@ ; done
 	set -e ; for a in $(static-dirs) $(client-dirs) ; do $(MAKE) -C $$a -f $(srcdir_abs)/$$a/Makefile $@ ; done