diff --git a/qemu/Makefile b/qemu/Makefile
index 70c03976..fcb96fde 100644
--- a/qemu/Makefile
+++ b/qemu/Makefile
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ ifneq ($(realpath $(SRC_PATH)),$(realpath .))
 ifneq ($(wildcard $(SRC_PATH)/config-host.mak),)
 $(error This is an out of tree build but your source tree ($(SRC_PATH)) \
 seems to have been used for an in-tree build. You can fix this by running \
-"make distclean && rm -rf *-linux-user *-softmmu" in your source tree)
+"$(MAKE) distclean && rm -rf *-linux-user *-softmmu" in your source tree)
 endif
 endif
 
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ endif
 	    else \
 	      echo "WARNING: $@ out of date.";\
 	    fi; \
-	    echo "Run \"make defconfig\" to regenerate."; \
+	    echo "Run \"$(MAKE) defconfig\" to regenerate."; \
 	    rm $@.tmp; \
 	  fi; \
 	 else \