diff --git a/make/topdir.mk b/make/topdir.mk
index 28a63504..0b345ec8 100644
--- a/make/topdir.mk
+++ b/make/topdir.mk
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ unlocal:
 
 topdir.distclean:
 topdir.clean:
-	rm -r *.done
+	rm -f *.done
 
 topdir.install: prefix.done $(INSTALLED_TOPDIR_FILES)