diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index b7a62cfdf2..d3dcfb18a7 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -390,6 +390,8 @@ SCRIPTS = $(patsubst %.sh,%,$(SCRIPT_SH)) \
 	  $(patsubst %.py,%,$(SCRIPT_PYTHON)) \
 	  git-instaweb
 
+ETAGS_TARGET = TAGS
+
 # Empty...
 EXTRA_PROGRAMS =
 
@@ -1122,6 +1124,7 @@ ifneq (,$(findstring MINGW,$(uname_S)))
 	NO_REGEX = YesPlease
 	NO_PYTHON = YesPlease
 	BLK_SHA1 = YesPlease
+	ETAGS_TARGET = ETAGS
 	COMPAT_CFLAGS += -D__USE_MINGW_ACCESS -DNOGDI -Icompat -Icompat/fnmatch -Icompat/win32
 	COMPAT_CFLAGS += -DSTRIP_EXTENSION=\".exe\"
 	COMPAT_OBJS += compat/mingw.o compat/fnmatch/fnmatch.o compat/winansi.o \
@@ -1961,11 +1964,11 @@ info:
 pdf:
 	$(MAKE) -C Documentation pdf
 
-TAGS:
-	$(RM) TAGS
-	$(FIND) . -name '*.[hcS]' -print | xargs etags -a
+$(ETAGS_TARGET): FORCE
+	$(RM) $(ETAGS_TARGET)
+	$(FIND) . -name '*.[hcS]' -print | xargs etags -a -o $(ETAGS_TARGET)
 
-tags:
+tags: FORCE
 	$(RM) tags
 	$(FIND) . -name '*.[hcS]' -print | xargs ctags -a
 
@@ -2235,7 +2238,7 @@ clean:
 	$(RM) $(TEST_PROGRAMS)
 	$(RM) -r bin-wrappers
 	$(RM) -r $(dep_dirs)
-	$(RM) *.spec *.pyc *.pyo */*.pyc */*.pyo common-cmds.h TAGS tags cscope*
+	$(RM) *.spec *.pyc *.pyo */*.pyc */*.pyo common-cmds.h $(ETAGS_TARGET) tags cscope*
 	$(RM) -r autom4te.cache
 	$(RM) config.log config.mak.autogen config.mak.append config.status config.cache
 	$(RM) -r $(GIT_TARNAME) .doc-tmp-dir
@@ -2259,7 +2262,7 @@ endif
 
 .PHONY: all install clean strip
 .PHONY: shell_compatibility_test please_set_SHELL_PATH_to_a_more_modern_shell
-.PHONY: FORCE TAGS tags cscope
+.PHONY: FORCE cscope
 
 ### Check documentation
 #