diff --git a/main/Makefile b/main/Makefile
index ff8de6d4fc..b8def5541f 100644
--- a/main/Makefile
+++ b/main/Makefile
@@ -141,6 +141,6 @@ asterisk: $(OBJS) editline/libedit.a db1-ast/libdb1.a $(AST_EMBED_LDSCRIPTS)
 clean::
 	rm -f asterisk
 	rm -f db1-ast/.*.d
-	@if [ -f editline/Makefile ]; then $(MAKE) -C editline clean ; fi
+	@if [ -f editline/Makefile ]; then $(MAKE) -C editline distclean ; fi
 	@$(MAKE) -C db1-ast clean
 	@$(MAKE) -C stdtime clean