diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 45e69bb809..240309e1c8 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -519,7 +519,7 @@ strip:
 
 dep:	depend
 
-depend:
+depend: help_mp.h
 	$(CC) -MM $(CFLAGS) -DCODECS2HTML mplayer.c mencoder.c $(SRCS_MPLAYER) $(SRCS_MENCODER) 1>.depend
 	@for a in $(PARTS); do $(MAKE) -C $$a dep; done