diff --git a/src/maketools/make.module b/src/maketools/make.module
index 1b35e69ac4aba61b0a2148d8497a1207064b40dd..6e6159de78738a1ba7fa05ad6e72889a24cf3edc 100644
--- a/src/maketools/make.module
+++ b/src/maketools/make.module
@@ -32,6 +32,10 @@ all:
 .PHONY: obj
 obj: $(OBJ)
 
+.PHONY: lib
+lib:
+	cd ../lib ; make
+
 $(DEP): ../config/PlumedConfig.h ../config/Makefile.conf.xxd
 
 -include $(DEP)