diff --git a/make/dirs.mk b/make/dirs.mk
index 7b3cd5f4..799534a1 100644
--- a/make/dirs.mk
+++ b/make/dirs.mk
@@ -19,7 +19,8 @@ install clean:
 	rm -rf $(TEXTCLEAN) $(CLEAN) dist *.done *~ .*.swp *.tmp core *.rep
 	$(make_subdirs_target)
 
-distclean: clean
+distclean: rmdistclean clean
+rmdistclean:
 	rm -rf $(DISTCLEAN)
 
 .DEFAULT: