diff --git a/Makefile.in b/Makefile.in
index f8688313d..e0158cb9e 100644
--- a/Makefile.in
+++ b/Makefile.in
@@ -37,8 +37,9 @@ ifeq ($(MAKECMDGOALS),distclean)
   SUBDIRS = doc include man scripts \
     lib tools daemons libdm \
     udev po liblvm test/api test
-  DISTCLEAN_DIRS += lcov_reports*
 endif
+DISTCLEAN_DIRS += lcov_reports*
+DISTCLEAN_TARGETS += config.cache config.log config.status make.tmpl
 
 include make.tmpl
 
diff --git a/make.tmpl.in b/make.tmpl.in
index 8b93bb137..b42358a51 100644
--- a/make.tmpl.in
+++ b/make.tmpl.in
@@ -306,11 +306,8 @@ clean: $(SUBDIRS.clean)
 	$(SOURCES2:%.c=%.o) $(SOURCES2:%.c=%.d) $(SOURCES2:%.c=%.gcno) $(SOURCES2:%.c=%.gcda)
 
 distclean: clean $(SUBDIRS.distclean)
-	$(RM) -r $(DISTCLEAN_DIRS)
-	$(RM) $(DISTCLEAN_TARGETS)  \
-	      config.cache config.log config.status \
-	      Makefile make.tmpl core \
-	      lvm-version.h
+	test -z "$(DISTCLEAN_DIRS)" || $(RM) -r $(DISTCLEAN_DIRS)
+	$(RM) $(DISTCLEAN_TARGETS) Makefile core
 
 .export.sym: .exported_symbols
 	set -e; (echo "Base {"; echo "	global:"; \