diff --git a/make/projects-dir.mk b/make/projects-dir.mk
index 58d18f1c..0a5a29ac 100644
--- a/make/projects-dir.mk
+++ b/make/projects-dir.mk
@@ -111,7 +111,10 @@ endif
 BROWSER                     ?= xdg-open
 EDITOR                      ?= xdg-open
 ifeq ($(TIME),)
-  TIME                       = $(shell which time) -p
+  TIME                      := $(shell which time)
+  ifneq ($(TIME),)
+    TIME                    += -p
+  endif
 endif
 PROJECTS_PY                  = $(TIME) python3 $(JWB_SCRIPT_DIR)/jw-projects.py --prefix $(shell pwd) $(PROJECTS_PY_EXTRA_OPTS)
 PROJECTS_PY_BUILD            = $(PROJECTS_PY) build $(PROJECTS_PY_EXTRA_BUILD_OPTS)