diff --git a/Makefile.in b/Makefile.in
index 275d4dd78..7c5ed0bd6 100644
--- a/Makefile.in
+++ b/Makefile.in
@@ -350,12 +350,15 @@ depend: depend-rebuild
 	rm -f .depend.bak
 
 depend-rebuild:
-	rm -f config.h
+	mv .depend .depend.old
+	rm -f config.h .depend
 	touch config.h .depend
 	makedepend -w1000 -Y. -f .depend *.c 2>/dev/null
 	(echo '# Automatically generated by makedepend.'; \
 	 echo '# Run "make depend" to rebuild.'; sort .depend ) >.depend.tmp
 	mv .depend.tmp .depend
+	rm -f .depend.bak
+	mv .depend.old .depend.bak
 	rm -f config.h
 
 depend-check: depend-rebuild