diff --git a/make/rules.mk b/make/rules.mk
index 7bd6c16a..baf8537c 100644
--- a/make/rules.mk
+++ b/make/rules.mk
@@ -252,8 +252,7 @@ doneclean:
 execlean: allclean objclean runclean textclean
 	rm -rf $(EXE) $(PLUGIN)
 
-distclean: clean objclean textclean tmpclean vcdistclean profclean timerclean
-	rm -rf $(CLEAN) $(DISTCLEAN) $(AC_FILES)
+distclean: clean objclean textclean tmpclean vcdistclean profclean timerclean varclean
 
 localclean: $(LOCAL_CLEAN)
 	rm -rf $(CLEAN)
@@ -273,6 +272,9 @@ profclean:
 timerclean:
 	rm -f timers_*.h
 
+varclean:
+	rm -rf $(CLEAN) $(DISTCLEAN) $(AC_FILES)
+
 install_libdir: $(INSTALL_LIBDIR)
 install_bindir: $(INSTALL_BINDIR)
 install_hdrdir: $(INSTALL_HDRDIR)