diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index 3172344a4..e38fb4e58 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -85,10 +85,10 @@
 	</target>
 	<target name="dist" depends="help,jar,archive" description="generate the distribution"/>
 
-	<target name="clean" depends="mkdir" description="clean up">
+	<target name="clean" description="clean up">
 		<!-- Delete the ${build} and ${dist} directory trees -->
-		<delete>
-			<fileset dir="${build}" includes="**"/>
+		<delete includeemptydirs="true">
+			<fileset dir="${build}/"/>
 			<fileset file="${bin}/lmntal.jar"/>
 			<fileset file="lmntal.tgz"/>
 			<fileset file="${src}/runtime/Help.java"/>