diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/exec/Makefile b/tools/testing/selftests/exec/Makefile
index 4e400eb83657ce5f35dac44300d61e58244af820..d4300602bf376a5f6e87b1eb17620d3652dd9795 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/exec/Makefile
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/exec/Makefile
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@ execveat.denatured: execveat
 	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $@ $^
 
 TEST_PROGS := execveat
-TEST_FILES := $(DEPS)
+# Makefile is a run-time dependency, since it's accessed by the execveat test
+TEST_FILES := $(DEPS) Makefile
 
 include ../lib.mk