diff --git a/make/subdirs.mk b/make/subdirs.mk
index 5d9fcf96..eb40f382 100644
--- a/make/subdirs.mk
+++ b/make/subdirs.mk
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+clean.var:
+	rm -rf $(CLEAN)
+distclean.var:
+	rm -rf $(DISTCLEAN)
+
 ifdef SUBDIRS
 
 all.dirs:
@@ -11,8 +16,8 @@ distclean.dirs:
 
 all: all.dirs
 install: install.dirs
-clean: clean.dirs
-distclean: distclean.dirs
+clean: clean.dirs clean.var
+distclean: distclean.dirs distclean.var
 
 else