diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 75ee1603140d000db0ca77a9853a26dd67a60bcf..802627d5c5f59d64fd09dbb7c4373613f6bd0d3f 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@
 # realclean: put the sources into pristine state again (WARNING: this will get
 # rid of any uncommitted source changes, too); use this as a last resort to
 # get the sources into a compilable state again after things have gone awry
+# NOTE: this target only works in a working copy of the git repo, not in
+# static tarball snapshots of the source
 
 all:
 	cd l2ork_addons && ./tar_em_up.sh -Tk
@@ -48,9 +50,11 @@ clean:
 	cd Gem/ && rm -f gemglutwindow.pd_linux Gem.pd_linux
 
 realclean:
-	git submodule deinit --all -f
-	git checkout .
-	git clean -dff
 # git clean doesn't see these, but we need to get rid of them to prevent
 # subsequent mysterious build failures
 	rm -rf pd/lib $(addprefix externals/disis/, flext/configure stk/configure)
+# The rest require a working copy of the git repo.
+	test -d .git || (echo "Not a git repository, bailing out." && false)
+	git submodule deinit --all -f
+	git checkout .
+	git clean -dff
diff --git a/l2ork_addons/tar_em_up.sh b/l2ork_addons/tar_em_up.sh
index 4d13c2c9c695252b4560ba5ec8908b85d00eee67..41754074be96fda6c4fc26b191ffc5f4c1665619 100755
--- a/l2ork_addons/tar_em_up.sh
+++ b/l2ork_addons/tar_em_up.sh
@@ -292,7 +292,7 @@ then
 		# s_stuff.h when we copy it below. XXXNOTE AG: The build seems
 		# to work just fine even when skipping all this, so why again
 		# is this needed?
-		make -C .. git_version
+		test -f ../../pd/src/s_stuff.h || make -C .. git_version
 		cp ../../pd/src/g_all_guis.h ../../externals/build/include
 		cp ../../pd/src/g_canvas.h ../../externals/build/include
 		cp ../../pd/src/m_imp.h ../../externals/build/include
diff --git a/packages/Makefile b/packages/Makefile
index b7b042b0150519884f9303326986ac21d44993b0..69ae8def8bb30f916315f54ade473e2d8e8fd80d 100644
--- a/packages/Makefile
+++ b/packages/Makefile
@@ -373,13 +373,15 @@ doc_format:
 # AG: The set_version target is broken since it modifies m_pd.h in-place
 # during the build, which is a bad thing to do to files which are supposed to
 # be kept in a source code repository. Instead, we create s_stuff.h from
-# s_stuff.h.in, where the latter is kept in the repo and the former gets created
-# from the latter by substituting PD_BUILD_VERSION.
+# s_stuff.h.in, where the latter is kept in the repo and the former gets
+# created from the latter by substituting PD_BUILD_VERSION. NOTE: This may
+# fail if we're building in a static tarball snapshop of the repo, in which
+# case we assume that a pre-generated s_stuff.h is supplied.
 
 git_version: $(pd_src)/src/s_stuff.h.in
-	@cd $(pd_src)/src/ && \
+	@test -d $(cvs_root_dir)/.git && cd $(pd_src)/src/ && \
 	sed 's|^\(#define PD_BUILD_VERSION "\).*"|\1$(PD_BUILD_VERSION)"|' s_stuff.h.in > s_stuff.h.new && \
-	(test -f s_stuff.h && diff -q s_stuff.h s_stuff.h.new > /dev/null && rm -f s_stuff.h.new && echo s_stuff.h unchanged || (rm -f s_stuff.h && mv s_stuff.h.new s_stuff.h))
+	(test -f s_stuff.h && diff -q s_stuff.h s_stuff.h.new > /dev/null && rm -f s_stuff.h.new && echo s_stuff.h unchanged || (rm -f s_stuff.h && mv s_stuff.h.new s_stuff.h)) || test -f $(pd_src)/src/s_stuff.h
 
 set_version:
 # change Pd's version number to reflect the extended build
@@ -422,7 +424,9 @@ distclean: cruft_clean
 	$(MAKE) -C $(abstractions_src) distclean
 	-$(MAKE) -C $(extensions_src) distclean
 	$(MAKE) -C $(externals_src) distclean
-	-$(MAKE) -C $(pd_src) distclean
+# Make sure that we don't remove the precious s_stuff.h file if we're building
+# outside of the repo.
+	-test -d $(cvs_root_dir)/.git && $(MAKE) -C $(pd_src) distclean || $(MAKE) -C $(pd_src) clean
 
 test_locations:
 	@echo "PD_VERSION: $(PD_VERSION)"