diff --git a/make/debugger.mk b/make/debugger.mk
index 351df4e8..abdbef81 100644
--- a/make/debugger.mk
+++ b/make/debugger.mk
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
-CORE_DUMPER                  = $(shell echo -e "quit" | $(DEBUGGER) --core=$(CORE) 2>&1 | \
+ifneq ($(CORE),)
+  CORE_DUMPER                = $(shell echo -e "quit" | $(DEBUGGER) --core=$(CORE) 2>&1 | \
 	$(SED) '/Core was generated/ !d; s/Core was generated by `//; s/ .*//')
-ifeq ($(CORE_DUMPER),)
-CORE_DUMPER                  = $(EXE_PATH)
+else ifeq ($(CORE_DUMPER),)
+  CORE_DUMPER                = $(EXE_PATH)
 endif
 
 PID                          = $(shell pidof $(EXE_PATH))