diff --git a/makefiles/tools/targets.inc.mk b/makefiles/tools/targets.inc.mk
index 352f146fec7fa54f0b44efcd782ad642167547b9..74f1de61d1b5a6fb60a6f8092f42faaefa14d8f9 100644
--- a/makefiles/tools/targets.inc.mk
+++ b/makefiles/tools/targets.inc.mk
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ $(RIOTTOOLS)/bossa/bossac:
 	@make -C $(RIOTTOOLS)/bossa
 	@echo "[INFO] bossac binary successfully build!"
 
-$(RIOTTOOLS)/edbg/edbg:
+$(RIOTTOOLS)/edbg/edbg: $(RIOTTOOLS)/edbg/Makefile
 	@echo "[INFO] edbg binary not found - building it from source now"
 	CC= CFLAGS= make -C $(RIOTTOOLS)/edbg
 	@echo "[INFO] edbg binary successfully build!"