diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index c585cb598..d8ff07e5a 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ $(eval $(call gen-built-in,images))
 # the nmk so we can reuse it there.
 criu/%: images/built-in.o $(VERSION_HEADER) .FORCE
 	$(Q) $(MAKE) $(build)=criu $@
-criu: images/built-in.o $(VERSION_HEADER)
+criu: images/built-in.o $(VERSION_HEADER) $(CONFIG_HEADER)
 	$(Q) $(MAKE) $(build)=criu all
 .PHONY: criu
 
diff --git a/criu/Makefile b/criu/Makefile
index fe87a3417..279abf558 100644
--- a/criu/Makefile
+++ b/criu/Makefile
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ $(ARCH-LIB): syscalls_lib
 ifeq ($(piegen-y),y)
 piegen-bin		:= criu/pie/piegen/piegen
 
-criu/pie/piegen/%: config
+criu/pie/piegen/%: $(CONFIG_HEADER)
 	$(Q) CC=$(HOSTCC) LD=$(HOSTLD) CFLAGS="$(ccflags-y) $(HOSTCFLAGS) $(WARNINGS) $(DEFINES)" $(MAKE) $(build)=criu/pie/piegen $@
 $(piegen-bin): criu/pie/piegen/built-in.o
 	$(call msg-link, $@)