diff --git a/buildsys.mk.in b/buildsys.mk.in
index d0d19da..b537e4a 100644
--- a/buildsys.mk.in
+++ b/buildsys.mk.in
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ clean:
 		${DIR_LEAVE}; \
 	done
 	
-	for i in ${OBJS} ${CLEAN} ${CLEAN_LIB} .deps ${DEPS}; do \
+	for i in ${OBJS} ${CLEAN} ${CLEAN_LIB} ${DEPS}; do \
 		if test -f $$i -o -d $$i; then \
 			if rm -fr $$i; then \
 				${DELETE_OK}; \
diff --git a/m4/buildsys.m4 b/m4/buildsys.m4
index 7c1e752..c16137e 100644
--- a/m4/buildsys.m4
+++ b/m4/buildsys.m4
@@ -134,8 +134,10 @@ AC_DEFUN([BUILDSYS_SHARED_LIB], [
 ])
 
 AC_DEFUN([BUILDSYS_TOUCH_DEPS], [
-	${as_echo:="echo"} "${as_me:="configure"}: Touching .deps files"
+	${as_echo:="echo"} "${as_me:="configure"}: touching .deps files"
 	for i in $(find . -name Makefile); do
-		touch -t 0001010000 $(dirname $i)/.deps
+		DEPSFILE="$(dirname $i)/.deps"
+		test -f "$DEPSFILE" && rm "$DEPSFILE"
+		touch -t 0001010000 "$DEPSFILE"
 	done
 ])