diff --git a/scripts/purge-stale-projects.sh b/scripts/purge-stale-projects.sh
index 08678258..d0696203 100644
--- a/scripts/purge-stale-projects.sh
+++ b/scripts/purge-stale-projects.sh
@@ -70,7 +70,9 @@ for p in $local_cvs_proj; do
 	echo $remote_cvs_proj | grep -q "\(^\| \)$p\($\| \)" && continue
 	n=purged/cvs/$date/$p
 	mkdir -p `dirname $n`
-	echo moving stale cvs project $p to $n
+	echo "--------------- moving stale cvs project $p to $n"
+	if ! make -C $p distclean; then echo "distclean failed, ignoring"; fi
+	if ! make -C $p clean; then echo "clean failed, ignoring"; fi
 	mv $p $n
 	purged="$purged $p"
 done