diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index f9b834b79dc..559cdfe8dd6 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -7,9 +7,14 @@
 # 
 ##===----------------------------------------------------------------------===##
 LEVEL = .
-DIRS = lib/Support utils lib tools runtime
+DIRS = lib/Support utils lib tools 
 OPTIONAL_DIRS = projects
 
+ifneq ($(MAKECMDGOALS),tools-only)
+DIRS += runtime
+endif
+
+
 include $(LEVEL)/Makefile.common
 
 test :: all
@@ -22,7 +27,6 @@ distclean:: clean
 	                  $(LEVEL)/config.log \
 	                  $(LEVEL)/TAGS
 
-tools-only: DIRS = $(DIRS:runtime=)
 tools-only: all
 
 configure: autoconf/configure.ac autoconf/aclocal.m4