diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index e8197e0fcf..aae1acec62 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -308,10 +308,17 @@ endif
 version.h: config.h config.mak Makefile
 endif
 
+#
+# include dependencies to get make to recurse into lib dirs,
+# if the user desires such behavior
+#
+ifneq ($(wildcard .libdeps))
+include .libdeps
+endif
+
 #
 # include dependency files if they exist
 #
 ifneq ($(wildcard .depend),)
 include .depend
 endif
-include libdeps