diff --git a/tools/Makefile b/tools/Makefile
index 60da86655..94bbf7096 100644
--- a/tools/Makefile
+++ b/tools/Makefile
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 T := $(CURDIR)
-OUT_DIR ?= $(T)/build
+OUT_DIR ?= $(shell mkdir -p $(T)/build;cd $(T)/build;pwd)
 
 .PHONY: all acrn-crashlog acrnlog acrn-manager acrntrace acrnbridge
 all: acrn-crashlog acrnlog acrn-manager acrntrace acrnbridge
diff --git a/tools/acrn-manager/Makefile b/tools/acrn-manager/Makefile
index 3de3ac26e..821f9bac2 100644
--- a/tools/acrn-manager/Makefile
+++ b/tools/acrn-manager/Makefile
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ ifeq ($(RELEASE),0)
 CFLAGS += -g -DMNGR_DEBUG
 endif
 
-LDFLAGS := -L$(TOOLS_OUT)
+LDFLAGS := -L$(OUT_DIR)
 LDFLAGS += -lacrn-mngr
 LDFLAGS +=  -lpthread
 
diff --git a/tools/acrnlog/Makefile b/tools/acrnlog/Makefile
index dcc7b612e..ee47cc189 100644
--- a/tools/acrnlog/Makefile
+++ b/tools/acrnlog/Makefile
@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@ all:
 
 clean:
 	rm -f $(OUT_DIR)/acrnlog
+ifneq ($(OUT_DIR),.)
 	rm -f $(OUT_DIR)/acrnlog.service
+endif
 
 install: $(OUT_DIR)/acrnlog
 	install -d $(DESTDIR)/usr/bin