diff --git a/bin/python/isc/Makefile.in b/bin/python/isc/Makefile.in
index 802ef67851..322c802f26 100644
--- a/bin/python/isc/Makefile.in
+++ b/bin/python/isc/Makefile.in
@@ -30,7 +30,8 @@ TARGETS =	parsetab.py parsetab.pyc \
 
 @BIND9_MAKE_RULES@
 
-%.pyc: %.py
+.SUFFIXES: .py .pyc
+.py.pyc:
 	$(PYTHON) -m compileall .
 
 parsetab.py parsetab.pyc: policy.py
@@ -64,4 +65,4 @@ clean distclean::
 	rm -f *.pyc parser.out parsetab.py
 
 distclean::
-	rm -Rf utils.py
\ No newline at end of file
+	rm -Rf utils.py