diff --git a/tclpkg/gv/Makefile.am b/tclpkg/gv/Makefile.am
index 8941c22..a6a3213 100644
--- a/tclpkg/gv/Makefile.am
+++ b/tclpkg/gv/Makefile.am
@@ -449,7 +449,10 @@ else
 pdf =
 endif
 
-$(man): gv.i gv_doc_writer.tcl gv_doc_template.tcl gv_doc_langs.tcl
+$(man): gv_doc_writer.intermediate ;
+
+.INTERMEDIATE: gv_doc_writer.intermediate
+gv_doc_writer.intermediate: gv.i gv_doc_writer.tcl gv_doc_template.tcl gv_doc_langs.tcl
 	$(TCLSH) $(srcdir)/gv_doc_writer.tcl "$(srcdir)"
 
 if ENABLE_MAN_PDFS