diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 031698e1..a254ef7a 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -11,20 +11,15 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
+include Makefile.common
+
 GO     ?= GO15VENDOREXPERIMENT=1 go
-GOPATH := $(firstword $(subst :, ,$(shell $(GO) env GOPATH)))
 GOARCH := $(shell $(GO) env GOARCH)
 GOHOSTARCH := $(shell $(GO) env GOHOSTARCH)
 
-PROMTOOL    ?= $(GOPATH)/bin/promtool
-PROMU       ?= $(GOPATH)/bin/promu
-STATICCHECK ?= $(GOPATH)/bin/staticcheck
-pkgs         = $(shell $(GO) list ./... | grep -v /vendor/)
+PROMTOOL    ?= $(FIRST_GOPATH)/bin/promtool
 
-PREFIX                  ?= $(shell pwd)
-BIN_DIR                 ?= $(shell pwd)
 DOCKER_IMAGE_NAME       ?= node-exporter
-DOCKER_IMAGE_TAG        ?= $(subst /,-,$(shell git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD))
 MACH                    ?= $(shell uname -m)
 DOCKERFILE              ?= Dockerfile
 
@@ -75,10 +70,6 @@ $(eval $(call goarch_pair,mips64el,mipsel))
 
 all: style vet staticcheck checkmetrics build test $(cross-test) $(test-e2e)
 
-style:
-	@echo ">> checking code style"
-	@! gofmt -d $(shell find . -path ./vendor -prune -o -name '*.go' -print) | grep '^'
-
 test: collector/fixtures/sys/.unpacked
 	@echo ">> running tests"
 	$(GO) test -short $(test-flags) $(pkgs)
@@ -107,26 +98,6 @@ checkmetrics: $(PROMTOOL)
 	@echo ">> checking metrics for correctness"
 	./checkmetrics.sh $(PROMTOOL) $(e2e-out)
 
-format:
-	@echo ">> formatting code"
-	@$(GO) fmt $(pkgs)
-
-vet:
-	@echo ">> vetting code"
-	@$(GO) vet $(pkgs)
-
-staticcheck: $(STATICCHECK)
-	@echo ">> running staticcheck"
-	@$(STATICCHECK) -ignore "$(STATICCHECK_IGNORE)" $(pkgs)
-
-build: $(PROMU)
-	@echo ">> building binaries"
-	@$(PROMU) build --prefix $(PREFIX)
-
-tarball: $(PROMU)
-	@echo ">> building release tarball"
-	@$(PROMU) tarball --prefix $(PREFIX) $(BIN_DIR)
-
 docker:
 ifeq ($(MACH), ppc64le)
 	$(eval DOCKERFILE=Dockerfile.ppc64le)
@@ -138,20 +109,13 @@ test-docker:
 	@echo ">> testing docker image"
 	./test_image.sh "$(DOCKER_IMAGE_NAME):$(DOCKER_IMAGE_TAG)" 9100
 
-$(GOPATH)/bin/promtool promtool:
+$(FIRST_GOPATH)/bin/promtool promtool:
 	@GOOS= GOARCH= $(GO) get -u github.com/prometheus/prometheus/cmd/promtool
 
-$(GOPATH)/bin/promu promu:
-	@GOOS= GOARCH= $(GO) get -u github.com/prometheus/promu
-
-$(GOPATH)/bin/staticcheck:
-	@GOOS= GOARCH= $(GO) get -u honnef.co/go/tools/cmd/staticcheck
-
-
-.PHONY: all style format build test test-e2e vet tarball docker promtool promu staticcheck checkmetrics
+.PHONY: test-e2e promtool checkmetrics
 
 # Declaring the binaries at their default locations as PHONY targets is a hack
 # to ensure the latest version is downloaded on every make execution.
 # If this is not desired, copy/symlink these binaries to a different path and
 # set the respective environment variables.
-.PHONY: $(GOPATH)/bin/promtool $(GOPATH)/bin/promu $(GOPATH)/bin/staticcheck
+.PHONY: $(FIRST_GOPATH)/bin/promtool
diff --git a/Makefile.common b/Makefile.common
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..353494c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Makefile.common
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+# Copyright 2018 The Prometheus Authors
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+# http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+
+# A common Makefile that includes rules to be reused in different prometheus projects.
+# !!! Open PRs only against the prometheus/prometheus/Makefile.common repository!
+
+# Example usage :
+# Create the main Makefile in the root project directory. 
+# include Makefile.common
+# customTarget:
+# 	@echo ">> Running customTarget"
+#
+
+# Ensure GOBIN is not set during build so that promu is installed to the correct path
+unexport GOBIN
+
+GO           ?= go
+GOFMT        ?= $(GO)fmt
+FIRST_GOPATH := $(firstword $(subst :, ,$(shell $(GO) env GOPATH)))
+PROMU        := $(FIRST_GOPATH)/bin/promu
+STATICCHECK  := $(FIRST_GOPATH)/bin/staticcheck
+GOVENDOR     := $(FIRST_GOPATH)/bin/govendor
+pkgs          = ./...
+
+PREFIX                  ?= $(shell pwd)
+BIN_DIR                 ?= $(shell pwd)
+DOCKER_IMAGE_TAG        ?= $(subst /,-,$(shell git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD))
+
+all: style staticcheck unused build test
+
+style:
+	@echo ">> checking code style"
+	! $(GOFMT) -d $$(find . -path ./vendor -prune -o -name '*.go' -print) | grep '^'
+
+check_license:
+	@echo ">> checking license header"
+	@licRes=$$(for file in $$(find . -type f -iname '*.go' ! -path './vendor/*') ; do \
+               awk 'NR<=3' $$file | grep -Eq "(Copyright|generated|GENERATED)" || echo $$file; \
+       done); \
+       if [ -n "$${licRes}" ]; then \
+               echo "license header checking failed:"; echo "$${licRes}"; \
+               exit 1; \
+       fi
+
+test-short:
+	@echo ">> running short tests"
+	$(GO) test -short $(pkgs)
+
+test:
+	@echo ">> running all tests"
+	$(GO) test -race $(pkgs)
+
+format:
+	@echo ">> formatting code"
+	$(GO) fmt $(pkgs)
+
+vet:
+	@echo ">> vetting code"
+	$(GO) vet $(pkgs)
+
+staticcheck: $(STATICCHECK)
+	@echo ">> running staticcheck"
+	$(STATICCHECK) -ignore "$(STATICCHECK_IGNORE)" $(pkgs)
+
+unused: $(GOVENDOR)
+	@echo ">> running check for unused packages"
+	@$(GOVENDOR) list +unused | grep . && exit 1 || echo 'No unused packages'
+
+build: promu
+	@echo ">> building binaries"
+	$(PROMU) build --prefix $(PREFIX)
+
+tarball: promu
+	@echo ">> building release tarball"
+	$(PROMU) tarball --prefix $(PREFIX) $(BIN_DIR)
+
+docker:
+	docker build -t "$(DOCKER_IMAGE_NAME):$(DOCKER_IMAGE_TAG)" .
+
+promu:
+	GOOS= GOARCH= $(GO) get -u github.com/prometheus/promu
+
+$(FIRST_GOPATH)/bin/staticcheck:
+	GOOS= GOARCH= $(GO) get -u honnef.co/go/tools/cmd/staticcheck
+
+$(FIRST_GOPATH)/bin/govendor:
+	GOOS= GOARCH= $(GO) get -u github.com/kardianos/govendor
+
+.PHONY: all style check_license format build test vet assets tarball docker promu staticcheck $(FIRST_GOPATH)/bin/staticcheck govendor $(FIRST_GOPATH)/bin/govendor
\ No newline at end of file