diff --git a/src/lib/.gitignore b/src/lib/.gitignore
index 7256f01dec187a147fb6611712e64429ef12a160..c00777816e12075e85fedce4696b3a91c52724ee 100644
--- a/src/lib/.gitignore
+++ b/src/lib/.gitignore
@@ -1,6 +1,3 @@
 /Plumed.inc*
 /compile_options.sh
-/plumed-static
-/plumed-shared
-/plumed-runtime
-/plumed
+/plumed-*
diff --git a/src/lib/Makefile b/src/lib/Makefile
index 6314ff9103c56c98988e65e8020a0b5c52b05df2..a2a60076df18432997c88a80c6429b02dfbdbf9a 100644
--- a/src/lib/Makefile
+++ b/src/lib/Makefile
@@ -60,7 +60,15 @@ $(DIRS):
 .PHONY: lib
 lib: $(PLUMED_KERNEL) $(PLUMED_SHARED_OBJ) $(OBJ_WRAPPER) \
      $(PLUMED_MAIN_STATIC) $(PLUMED_MAIN_SHARED) $(PLUMED_MAIN_RUNTIME) \
-     Plumed.inc Plumed.inc.runtime Plumed.inc.shared Plumed.inc.static 
+     Plumed.inc Plumed.inc.runtime Plumed.inc.shared Plumed.inc.static \
+     plumed-patch
+
+plumed-patch:
+	@echo "#! /bin/bash" > plumed-patch
+	@echo "echo 'NOTE: shell only version of path, useful for cross compiling'" >> plumed-patch
+	@echo "export PLUMED_ROOT=\"$(realpath ../../)\"" >> plumed-patch
+	@echo "source \"$(realpath ../../scripts/patch.sh)\"" >> plumed-patch
+	chmod a+x plumed-patch
 
 $(PLUMED_KERNEL):$(OBJ_KERNEL)
 	$(LDSO) -o $@ $^ $(DYNAMIC_LIBS)
@@ -127,7 +135,7 @@ endif
 clean:
 	rm -f $(CLEANLIST)
 	rm -f $(PLUMED_MAIN_STATIC) $(PLUMED_MAIN_SHARED) $(PLUMED_MAIN_RUNTIME)
-	rm -f Plumed.inc*
+	rm -f Plumed.inc* plumed-*
 
 # generic makefile rules
 include ../maketools/make.rules