diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index f06e95ba6dec7d66d7c65d1cde24b4230fff757c..4cf7d642c7a406dc694904160fd5f0c42d55d398 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -38,7 +38,8 @@ format:
 
 # build a wheel package in dist folder
 build:
-	rm -r build/* dist/*
+	if [ -d "./build" ]; then rm -r build/*; fi
+	if [ -d "./dist" ]; then rm -r dist/*; fi
 	python setup.py sdist bdist_wheel
 
 # upload on PyPi repository