diff --git a/Makefile.rules b/Makefile.rules
index a76a6656041..0787891f7a4 100644
--- a/Makefile.rules
+++ b/Makefile.rules
@@ -742,7 +742,7 @@ endif
 # which they can be "generated."  This allows make to ignore them and
 # reproduce the dependency lists.
 #
-%.h::
+%.h:: ;
 
 # 'make clean' nukes the tree
 clean::