diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index de73c6ddcd..ecd590a643 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -2805,7 +2805,7 @@ endif
 compdb_dir = compile_commands
 
 ifeq ($(GENERATE_COMPILATION_DATABASE),yes)
-missing_compdb_dir = $(compdb_dir)
+missing_compdb_dir = $(filter-out $(wildcard $(compdb_dir)), $(compdb_dir))
 $(missing_compdb_dir):
 	@mkdir -p $@