diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 58fd0178..b2a39952 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -104,8 +104,8 @@ dist: distclean
 	# Only copy toplevel documentation (important stuff)
 	mkdir i3-${VERSION}/docs
 	# Pre-generate documentation
-	make -C docs
-	make -C i3bar/doc
+	$(MAKE) -C docs
+	$(MAKE) -C i3bar/doc
 	# Cleanup τεχ output files
 	find docs -regex ".*\.\(aux\|out\|log\|toc\|bm\|dvi\|log\)" -exec rm '{}' \;
 	find docs -maxdepth 1 -type f ! \( -name "*.xcf" -or -name "*.svg" \) -exec cp '{}' i3-${VERSION}/docs \;
diff --git a/i3bar/Makefile b/i3bar/Makefile
index a0c472bf..2a05b146 100644
--- a/i3bar/Makefile
+++ b/i3bar/Makefile
@@ -33,10 +33,10 @@ install: all
 
 clean:
 	rm -f src/*.o
-	make -C doc clean
+	$(MAKE) -C doc clean
 
 distclean: clean
 	rm -f i3bar
-	make -C doc distclean
+	$(MAKE) -C doc distclean
 
 .PHONY: install clean distclean doc