diff --git a/tools/lib/traceevent/Makefile b/tools/lib/traceevent/Makefile
index 76fe0aeb874ed3e68f2bb58d72c99326afe215b8..f778d48ac6097e78c713b11c9b5a965ee16045f2 100644
--- a/tools/lib/traceevent/Makefile
+++ b/tools/lib/traceevent/Makefile
@@ -329,9 +329,12 @@ clean:
 
 endif # skip-makefile
 
-PHONY += force
+PHONY += force plugins
 force:
 
+plugins:
+	@echo > /dev/null
+
 # Declare the contents of the .PHONY variable as phony.  We keep that
 # information in a variable so we can use it in if_changed and friends.
 .PHONY: $(PHONY)