diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index ec92bc8ba..0eee85dd6 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1921,7 +1921,11 @@ QF_DEPS(WAV,
 	[$(top_builddir)/libs/util/libQFutil.la],
 	[$(WIN32_LIBS)],
 )
-WAV_INCS=""
+QF_DEPS(QFDEFS,
+	[-I$(top_srcdir)/tools/qfdefs/include],
+	[$(top_builddir)/libs/gamecode/engine/libQFgamecode.la $(top_builddir)/libs/util/libQFutil.la],
+	[$(WIN32_LIBS)],
+)
 
 AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(PATH_SEPARATOR, '/', [Define this to your operating system's path separator character])
 AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(CPP_NAME, "$CPP_NAME", [Define this to the command line for the C preprocessor])
@@ -1989,6 +1993,9 @@ AC_OUTPUT(
 	tools/qfcc/doc/man/Makefile
 	tools/qfcc/include/Makefile
 	tools/qfcc/source/Makefile
+	tools/qfdefs/Makefile
+	tools/qfdefs/include/Makefile
+	tools/qfdefs/source/Makefile
 	tools/qfprogs/Makefile
 	tools/qfprogs/include/Makefile
 	tools/qfprogs/source/Makefile
diff --git a/tools/Makefile.am b/tools/Makefile.am
index a10877650..9182d2385 100644
--- a/tools/Makefile.am
+++ b/tools/Makefile.am
@@ -1 +1 @@
-SUBDIRS=pak qfcc qfprogs qwaq wav
+SUBDIRS=pak qfcc qfdefs qfprogs qwaq wav
diff --git a/tools/qfdefs/source/Makefile.am b/tools/qfdefs/source/Makefile.am
index 0c94e56fe..ea2128d70 100644
--- a/tools/qfdefs/source/Makefile.am
+++ b/tools/qfdefs/source/Makefile.am
@@ -1,19 +1,25 @@
 AUTOMAKE_OPTIONS= foreign
 
-INCLUDES=   -I$(top_srcdir)/include
+QFDEFS_LIBS=@QFDEFS_LIBS@
+QFDEFS_DEPS=@QFDEFS_DEPS@
+QFDEFS_INCS=@QFDEFS_INCS@
+
+INCLUDES=   -I$(top_srcdir)/include $(QFDEFS_INCS)
+GENDEFS=./gendefs
 
 bin_PROGRAMS=	qfdefs
 noinst_PROGRAMS=	gendefs
 
-qfdefs_SOURCES= defs.c defs_nq.c defs_qw.c fix_globals.c qfdefs.c
-qfdefs_LDADD=	-lQFgamecode -lQFutil
+qfdefs_SOURCES=		defs.c defs_nq.c defs_qw.c fix_globals.c qfdefs.c
+qfdefs_LDADD=		$(QFDEFS_LIBS)
+qfdefs_DEPENDENCIES=$(QFDEFS_DEPS)
 
 gendefs_SOURCES= gendefs.c
 
-defs_nq.c: $(top_srcdir)/include/progdefs.nq gendefs
-	./gendefs nq $(top_srcdir)/include/progdefs.nq defs_nq.c
+defs_nq.c: $(srcdir)/../include/progdefs.nq gendefs
+	$(GENDEFS) nq $(srcdir)/../include/progdefs.nq defs_nq.c
 
-defs_qw.c: $(top_srcdir)/include/progdefs.qw gendefs
-	./gendefs qw $(top_srcdir)/include/progdefs.qw defs_qw.c
+defs_qw.c: $(srcdir)/../include/progdefs.qw gendefs
+	$(GENDEFS) qw $(srcdir)/../include/progdefs.qw defs_qw.c
 
 CLEANFILES=	defs_nq.c defs_qw.c