diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 20aabd61e1..de568e31e0 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -507,6 +507,8 @@ endif
 STRIP_FIND_CMD += -type f \( -perm /111 -o -name '*.so*' \)
 STRIP_FIND_CMD += -not \( $(call findfileclauses,libpthread*.so* $(call qstrip,$(BR2_STRIP_EXCLUDE_FILES))) \) -print
 
+$(TARGETS_ROOTFS): target-finalize
+
 target-finalize: $(TARGETS)
 	rm -rf $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/include $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/share/aclocal \
 		$(TARGET_DIR)/usr/lib/pkgconfig $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/share/pkgconfig \
@@ -534,8 +536,6 @@ endif
 		find $(TARGET_DIR)/lib/modules -type f -name '*.ko' | \
 		xargs -r $(KSTRIPCMD); fi
 
-$(TARGETS_ROOTFS): target-finalize
-
 # See http://sourceware.org/gdb/wiki/FAQ, "GDB does not see any threads
 # besides the one in which crash occurred; or SIGTRAP kills my program when
 # I set a breakpoint"