diff --git a/scripts/build.py b/scripts/build.py
index 11b8b5d9..24e49583 100644
--- a/scripts/build.py
+++ b/scripts/build.py
@@ -77,10 +77,14 @@ def run_make(module, target):
 	if subprocess.call(["make", target]):
 		raise Exception(time.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M") + ": failed to make target " + target + " in module " + module + " below base " + proj_base)
 
-def build(order, target):
+def build(modules, order, target):
 	if target in ["clean", "distclean"]:
 		for m in reversed(order):
 			run_make(m, target)
+			modules.remove(m)
+			if not len(modules):
+				print "all modules cleaned"
+				return
 	else:
 		for m in order:
 			run_make(m, target)
@@ -111,7 +115,7 @@ order = []
 calculate_order(order, modules, glob_prereq_type)
 order = [m for m in order if m not in exclude]
 print "order is: " + ' '.join(order)
-build(order, target)
+build(modules, order, target)
 
 print datetime.datetime.now().strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")