diff --git a/util/lar/Makefile b/util/lar/Makefile
index 6aef6e4561..d8bad25911 100644
--- a/util/lar/Makefile
+++ b/util/lar/Makefile
@@ -19,16 +19,17 @@
 ##
 LAROBJ := lar.o stream.o lib.o
 
-LARDIR := lardir
+LARDIR := $(obj)/util/lar/
 
 COMPRESSOR := $(LZMA_OBJ) $(obj)/util/lzma/lzma-compress.o
-LARDIR     += lzmadir
+LARDIR     += $(obj)/util/lzma/
 
 COMPRESSOR += $(obj)/util/nrv2b/nrv2b-compress.o
-LARDIR     += nrv2bdir
+LARDIR     += $(obj)/util/nrv2b/
 
 LAROBJ_ABS := $(patsubst %,$(obj)/util/lar/%,$(LAROBJ))
-lardir:
+
+$(obj)/util/lar/:
 	$(Q)printf "  BUILD   LAR\n"
 	$(Q)mkdir -p $(obj)/util/lar
 
diff --git a/util/lzma/Makefile b/util/lzma/Makefile
index 960bfe01ff..0adb341ee9 100644
--- a/util/lzma/Makefile
+++ b/util/lzma/Makefile
@@ -23,13 +23,13 @@ LZMA_OBJ += $(obj)/util/lzma/RangeCoderBit.o $(obj)/util/lzma/StreamUtils.o
 LZMA_OBJ += $(obj)/util/lzma/OutBuffer.o $(obj)/util/lzma/Alloc.o
 LZMA_OBJ += $(obj)/util/lzma/CRC.o
 
-$(obj)/util/lzma/lzma: lzmadir $(LZMA_OBJ) $(obj)/util/lzma/minilzma.o
+$(obj)/util/lzma/lzma: $(obj)/util/lzma/ $(LZMA_OBJ) $(obj)/util/lzma/minilzma.o
 	$(Q)$(HOSTCXX) $(HOSTCXXFLAGS) -o $@ $(LZMA_OBJ) $(obj)/util/lzma/minilzma.o
 
 $(obj)/util/lzma/lzma-compress.o: $(src)/util/lzma/minilzma.cc
 	$(Q)$(HOSTCXX) $(HOSTCXXFLAGS) -o $@ -c -DCOMPACT $<
 
-lzmadir:
+$(obj)/util/lzma/:
 	$(Q)printf "  BUILD   LZMA\n"
 	$(Q)mkdir -p $(obj)/util/lzma/
 
diff --git a/util/nrv2b/Makefile b/util/nrv2b/Makefile
index 5a35ddf267..121aedb763 100644
--- a/util/nrv2b/Makefile
+++ b/util/nrv2b/Makefile
@@ -19,15 +19,15 @@
 ## Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301 USA
 ##
 
-$(obj)/util/nrv2b/nrv2b: nrv2bdir $(src)/util/nrv2b/nrv2b.c
+$(obj)/util/nrv2b/nrv2b: $(obj)/util/nrv2b/ $(src)/util/nrv2b/nrv2b.c
 	$(Q)printf "  HOSTCC  $(subst $(shell pwd)/,,$(@))\n"
 	$(Q)$(HOSTCC) $(HOSTCFLAGS) -DENCODE -DDECODE -DMAIN -DVERBOSE -DNDEBUG -DBITSIZE=32 -DENDIAN=0 -o $@ $(src)/util/nrv2b/nrv2b.c
 
-$(obj)/util/nrv2b/nrv2b-compress.o: nrv2bdir $(src)/util/nrv2b/nrv2b.c
+$(obj)/util/nrv2b/nrv2b-compress.o: $(obj)/util/nrv2b/ $(src)/util/nrv2b/nrv2b.c
 	$(Q)printf "  HOSTCC  $(subst $(shell pwd)/,,$(@))\n"
 	$(Q)$(HOSTCC) $(HOSTCFLAGS) -DENCODE -DDECODE -DVERBOSE -DCOMPACT -DNDEBUG -DBITSIZE=32 -DENDIAN=0 -c -o $@ $(src)/util/nrv2b/nrv2b.c
 
-nrv2bdir:
+$(obj)/util/nrv2b/:
 	$(Q)printf "  BUILD   NRV2B\n"
 	$(Q)mkdir -p $(obj)/util/nrv2b/
 
diff --git a/util/options/Makefile b/util/options/Makefile
index c5d8b4be12..2c97bf39ad 100644
--- a/util/options/Makefile
+++ b/util/options/Makefile
@@ -21,11 +21,11 @@
 
 OPTIONS_OBJ := $(obj)/util/options/build_opt_tbl.o
 
-$(obj)/util/options/build_opt_tbl: optionsdir $(OPTIONS_OBJ)
+$(obj)/util/options/build_opt_tbl: $(obj)/util/options/ $(OPTIONS_OBJ)
 	$(Q)printf "  HOSTCC  $(subst $(shell pwd)/,,$(@))\n"
 	$(Q)$(HOSTCC) $(HOSTCFLAGS) -o $@ $(OPTIONS_OBJ)
 
-optionsdir:
+$(obj)/util/options/:
 	$(Q)mkdir -p $(obj)/util/options/
 
 $(obj)/util/options/%.o: $(src)/util/options/%.c