diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 70f75850..f213dac0 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ SUBDIRS = inst/pre \
 		inst/post
 
 include $(TOPDIR)/make/proj.mk
-include $(TOPDIR)/make/topdir.mk
+include $(TOPDIR)/make/topdir-autoconf.mk
 
 define symversion
 nm $(LIB_A) | sed '/^[0-9]\{8\} T / !d; s/^[0-9]\{8\} T //' | sort -u
diff --git a/make/topdir-autoconf.mk b/make/topdir-autoconf.mk
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a861484c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/make/topdir-autoconf.mk
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+ifeq ($(wildcard $(TOPDIR)/make/defs.mk),)
+  ifneq ($(wildcard $(TOPDIR)/make/defs.mk.in),)
+    include $(MODDIR)/make/autoconf.mk
+  else
+    include $(MODDIR)/make/topdir.mk
+  endif
+else
+  include $(MODDIR)/make/topdir.mk
+endif
diff --git a/make/topdir.mk b/make/topdir.mk
index 1bfff4ca..7fca991b 100644
--- a/make/topdir.mk
+++ b/make/topdir.mk
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-SUBDIRS ?= make
-
 all: config
 install: topdir.install
 clean: topdir.clean
@@ -7,28 +5,14 @@ distclean: topdir.distclean
 config:
 
 ifneq ($(wildcard $(TOPDIR)/make/defs.mk),)
+  include $(TOPDIR)/make/defs.mk
+endif
 
-include $(MODDIR)/make/defs.mk
 include $(MODDIR)/make/rpmdist.mk
 include $(MODDIR)/make/subdirs.mk
 include $(MODDIR)/make/rules.mk
 include $(MODDIR)/make/doc-rules.mk
 
-else
-
-ifeq ($(wildcard $(TOPDIR)/make/defs.mk.in),)
-include $(MODDIR)/make/rpmdist.mk
-include $(MODDIR)/make/subdirs.mk
-include $(MODDIR)/make/rules.mk
-include $(MODDIR)/make/doc-rules.mk
-endif
-
-endif
-
-ifneq ($(wildcard $(TOPDIR)/make/defs.mk.in),)
-include $(MODDIR)/make/autoconf.mk
-endif
-
 INSTALLED_TOPDIR_FILES = $(addprefix $(INSTALL_DOCDIR)/, $(DOCS))
 
 local-%: