diff --git a/Makefile.config b/Makefile.config
index 31f82a4b4..806c56766 100644
--- a/Makefile.config
+++ b/Makefile.config
@@ -26,11 +26,11 @@ configs: $(CONFIGFILES)
 clean ::
 	@rm -fv $(CONFIGFILES) $(TEMPFILES) temp-generic kernel-$(VERSION)*config
 
-temp-generic: config-generic
-	cat config-generic config-nodebug > temp-generic
+temp-generic: config-generic config-nodebug
+	cat $^ > temp-generic
 
-temp-debug-generic: config-generic
-	cat config-generic config-debug > temp-debug-generic
+temp-debug-generic: config-generic config-debug
+	cat $^ > temp-debug-generic
 
 temp-no-extra-generic: config-no-extra temp-generic
 	perl merge.pl $^ > $@