diff --git a/Documentation/Makefile b/Documentation/Makefile
index d77bb607aea4..39569a2e1953 100644
--- a/Documentation/Makefile
+++ b/Documentation/Makefile
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
 # Makefile for Sphinx documentation
 #
 
-subdir-y := devicetree/bindings/
+# for cleaning
+subdir- := devicetree/bindings
 
 # Check for broken documentation file references
 ifeq ($(CONFIG_WARN_MISSING_DOCUMENTS),y)