diff --git a/include/depends.mk b/include/depends.mk
index 042fd4f4f28523ac2cc46b21d2f00b8f1a194dc0..14cdcdf7a7b1a74b586785edb010f09154db1dfe 100644
--- a/include/depends.mk
+++ b/include/depends.mk
@@ -20,28 +20,29 @@ define rdep
   .SILENT: $(2)_check
 
   $(2): $(2)_check
+
+ifneq ($(wildcard $(2)),)
+  $(2)_check::
+	$(if $(3), \
+		$(call find_md5,$(1),$(4)) > $(3).1; \
+		{ [ \! -f "$(3)" ] || diff $(3) $(3).1 >/dev/null; } && \
+	) \
+	{ \
+		[ -f "$(2)_check.1" ] && mv "$(2)_check.1"; \
+	    $(TOPDIR)/scripts/timestamp.pl $(DEP_FINDPARAMS) $(4) -n $(2) $(1) && { \
+			$(call debug_eval,$(SUBDIR),r,echo "No need to rebuild $(2)";) \
+			touch -r "$(2)" "$(2)_check"; \
+		} \
+	} || { \
+		$(call debug_eval,$(SUBDIR),r,echo "Need to rebuild $(2)";) \
+		touch "$(2)_check"; \
+	}
+	$(if $(3), mv $(3).1 $(3))
+else
   $(2)_check::
-	if [ -f "$(2)" ]; then \
-		$(if $(3), \
-			$(call find_md5,$(1),$(4)) > $(3).1; \
-			{ [ \! -f "$(3)" ] || diff $(3) $(3).1 >/dev/null; } && \
-		) \
-		{ \
-			[ -f "$(2)_check.1" ] && mv "$(2)_check.1"; \
-		    $(TOPDIR)/scripts/timestamp.pl $(DEP_FINDPARAMS) $(4) -n $(2) $(1) && { \
-				$(call debug_eval,$(SUBDIR),r,echo "No need to rebuild $(2)";) \
-				touch -r "$(2)" "$(2)_check"; \
-			} \
-		} || { \
-			$(call debug_eval,$(SUBDIR),r,echo "Need to rebuild $(2)";) \
-			touch "$(2)_check"; \
-		}; \
-		$(if $(3), mv $(3).1 $(3);) \
-	else \
-		$(if $(3), rm -f $(3) $(3).1;) \
-		$(call debug_eval,$(SUBDIR),r,echo "Target $(2) not built";) \
-		true; \
-	fi
+	$(if $(3), rm -f $(3) $(3).1)
+	$(call debug_eval,$(SUBDIR),r,echo "Target $(2) not built")
+endif
 
 endef