diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 0e4edf771b..37a164e562 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -1635,7 +1635,7 @@ test_conf_files_LDADD = \
 .PHONY: coverage lcov-run lcov-report coverage-sync
 
 # run lcov from scratch, always
-coverage:
+coverage: all
 	$(MAKE) lcov-run
 	$(MAKE) lcov-report