diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 87e7db134f..969151fed8 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ distclean:
 	-rm -f *~ $(PRG) $(PRG_FIBMAP) $(PRG_MENCODER) $(PRG_CFG) $(OBJS)
 	-rm -f *.o *.a .depend configure.log codecs.conf.h
 	@for a in $(PARTS); do $(MAKE) -C $$a distclean; done
-	$(MAKE) -C libavcodec distclean LIBPREF=lib LIBSUF=.a
+	-$(MAKE) -C libavcodec distclean LIBPREF=lib LIBSUF=.a
 
 strip:
 	strip -s $(ALL_PRG)