diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 7fe294ab5b..0a722566e5 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -2,6 +2,14 @@ WAF=python tools/waf-light
 
 web_root = ryan@nodejs.org:~/web/nodejs.org/
 
+#
+# Because we recursively call make from waf we need to make sure that we are
+# using the correct make. Not all makes are GNU Make, but this likely only
+# works with gnu make. To deal with this we remember how the user invoked us
+# via a make builtin variable and use that in all subsequent operations
+#
+export NODE_MAKE := $(MAKE)
+
 all: program
 
 all-progress:
diff --git a/wscript b/wscript
index 43e447a950..32b4cc1a40 100644
--- a/wscript
+++ b/wscript
@@ -599,7 +599,7 @@ def uv_cmd(bld, variant):
   # modifying libuv's build to send object files to a separate directory.
   #
   cmd = 'cp -r ' + sh_escape(srcdir)  + '/* ' + sh_escape(blddir) + \
-        ' &&  make -C ' + sh_escape(blddir)
+        ' &&  if [[ -z "$NODE_MAKE" ]]; then NODE_MAKE=make; fi; $NODE_MAKE -C ' + sh_escape(blddir)
   return cmd