diff --git a/src/swig/Makefile.in b/src/swig/Makefile.in
index cb58881eae..b38fab1959 100644
--- a/src/swig/Makefile.in
+++ b/src/swig/Makefile.in
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ plot.preproc.h: /usr/include/plot.h
 	cp /usr/include/plot.h plot.preproc.h
 	echo "#include <plot.h>" | gcc -E - > plot.preproc.h
 
-perl5: ${OBJS}
+perl5: ${OBJS} ../engine/libengine.a
 	@cd perl5 && $(MAKE) default
 
 .PHONY: default guile perl5