diff --git a/c/dsls/Makefile.am b/c/dsls/Makefile.am
index 4a0403447..409624a19 100644
--- a/c/dsls/Makefile.am
+++ b/c/dsls/Makefile.am
@@ -5,12 +5,11 @@ noinst_PROGRAMS=	lemon pdm fdm
 lemon_SOURCES=		lemon.c
 
 noinst_LTLIBRARIES=	libfdsl.la libpdsl.la
-libfdsl_la_SOURCES=	filter_dsl_parse.c filter_dsl_lexer.c filter_dsl_wrapper.c
-libpdsl_la_SOURCES=	put_dsl_parse.c put_dsl_lexer.c put_dsl_wrapper.c
-BUILT_SOURCES=		filter_dsl_parse.c put_dsl_parse.c
-CLEANFILES=		${BUILT_SOURCES} \
-			filter_dsl_parse.h filter_dsl_parse.out \
-			put_dsl_parse.h put_dsl_parse.out
+# if we don't want to distribute the generated sources, move them to a nodist_libfoo_la_SOURCES variable
+libfdsl_la_SOURCES=	filter_dsl_lexer.c filter_dsl_lexer.h filter_dsl_parse.c filter_dsl_parse.h filter_dsl_wrapper.c
+libpdsl_la_SOURCES=	put_dsl_lexer.c put_dsl_lexer.h put_dsl_parse.c put_dsl_parse.h put_dsl_wrapper.c
+CLEANFILES=		filter_dsl_lexer.c filter_dsl_lexer.h filter_dsl_parse.c filter_dsl_parse.h filter_dsl_parse.out \
+			put_dsl_lexer.c put_dsl_lexer.h put_dsl_parse.c put_dsl_parse.h put_dsl_parse.out
 EXTRA_DIST=		\
 			filter_dsl_lexer.l \
 			filter_dsl_parse.y \
@@ -25,7 +24,9 @@ pdm_SOURCES=		put_dsl_parse.c put_dsl_parse.h put_dsl_lexer.c put_dsl_lexer.h pu
 pdm_LDADD=		../containers/libcontainers.la ../lib/libmlr.la libpdsl.la -lm
 pdm_CFLAGS=		-D __PUT_DSL_MAIN__ ${AM_CFLAGS}
 
-put_dsl_parse.c put_dsl_parse.h: put_dsl_parse.y lempar.c lemon
+put_dsl_wrapper.c: put_dsl_lexer.h
+put_dsl_parse.h: put_dsl_parse.c
+put_dsl_parse.c: put_dsl_parse.y lempar.c lemon
 	./lemon put_dsl_parse.y
 # lemon does not re-generate the file if it exists and is the same
 # this causes problems with the dependency above
@@ -42,10 +43,13 @@ put_dsl_parse.c put_dsl_parse.h: put_dsl_parse.y lempar.c lemon
 	rm -f put_dsl_parse.c.tmp
 
 
-put_dsl_lexer.c put_dsl_lexer.h: put_dsl_lexer.l
-	flex --prefix=put_dsl_lexer_ --outfile=put_dsl_lexer.c --header-file=put_dsl_lexer.h put_dsl_lexer.l
+put_dsl_lexer.h: put_dsl_lexer.c
+put_dsl_lexer.c: put_dsl_lexer.l put_dsl_parse.h
+	flex --prefix=put_dsl_lexer_ --outfile=put_dsl_lexer.c --header-file=put_dsl_lexer.h ${srcdir}/put_dsl_lexer.l
 
-filter_dsl_parse.c filter_dsl_parse.h: filter_dsl_parse.y lempar.c lemon
+filter_dsl_wrapper.c: filter_dsl_lexer.h
+filter_dsl_parse.h: filter_dsl_parse.c
+filter_dsl_parse.c: filter_dsl_parse.y lempar.c lemon
 	./lemon filter_dsl_parse.y
 # lemon does not re-generate the file if it exists and is the same
 # this causes problems with the dependency above
@@ -61,10 +65,11 @@ filter_dsl_parse.c filter_dsl_parse.h: filter_dsl_parse.y lempar.c lemon
 		filter_dsl_parse.c.tmp > filter_dsl_parse.c
 	rm -f filter_dsl_parse.c.tmp
 
-filter_dsl_lexer.c filter_dsl_lexer.h: filter_dsl_lexer.l
-	flex --prefix=filter_dsl_lexer_ --outfile=filter_dsl_lexer.c --header-file=filter_dsl_lexer.h filter_dsl_lexer.l
+filter_dsl_lexer.h: filter_dsl_lexer.c
+filter_dsl_lexer.c: filter_dsl_lexer.l filter_dsl_parse.c
+	flex --prefix=filter_dsl_lexer_ --outfile=filter_dsl_lexer.c --header-file=filter_dsl_lexer.h ${srcdir}/filter_dsl_lexer.l
 
-distclean:
+distclean-local:
 	if [ "${srcdir}" != "." ]; then \
 		rm -f filter_dsl_parse.y lempar.c put_dsl_parse.y; \
 	fi