diff --git a/Makefile.generated_files b/Makefile.generated_files
index 1e4a83c9137..c1c6a4472cb 100644
--- a/Makefile.generated_files
+++ b/Makefile.generated_files
@@ -139,12 +139,18 @@ $(foreach dir, $(ALL_GO_DIRS), $(eval           \
 # We regenerate the output file in order to satisfy make's "newer than" rules,
 # but we only need to rebuild targets if the contents actually changed.  That
 # is what the .stamp file represents.
-$(foreach dir, $(ALL_GO_DIRS), $(META_DIR)/$(dir)/$(GOFILES_META)):
+$(foreach dir, $(ALL_GO_DIRS),  \
+    $(META_DIR)/$(dir)/$(GOFILES_META)):
 	FILES=$$(ls $</*.go | grep --color=never -v $(GENERATED_FILE_PREFIX));  \
 	mkdir -p $(@D);                                           \
 	echo "gofiles__$< := $$(echo $${FILES})" >$@.tmp;         \
 	cmp -s $@.tmp $@ || touch $@.stamp;                       \
 	mv $@.tmp $@
+# This is required to fill in the DAG, since some cases (e.g. 'make clean all')
+# will reference the .stamp file when it doesn't exist.  We don't need to
+# rebuild it in that case, just keep make happy.
+$(foreach dir, $(ALL_GO_DIRS),  \
+    $(META_DIR)/$(dir)/$(GOFILES_META).stamp):
 
 # Include any deps files as additional Makefile rules.  This triggers make to
 # consider the deps files for rebuild, which makes the whole
@@ -219,7 +225,7 @@ gen_deepcopy: $(DEEPCOPY_FILES)
 # has changed.  This allows us to detect deleted input files.
 $(foreach dir, $(DEEPCOPY_DIRS), $(eval                                    \
     $(dir)/$(DEEPCOPY_FILENAME): $(META_DIR)/$(dir)/$(GOFILES_META).stamp  \
-                                   $(gofiles__$(dir))                      \
+                                 $(gofiles__$(dir))                        \
 ))
 
 # Unilaterally remove any leftovers from previous runs.
@@ -228,6 +234,7 @@ $(shell rm -f $(META_DIR)/$(DEEPCOPY_GEN)*.todo)
 # How to regenerate deep-copy code.  This is a little slow to run, so we batch
 # it up and trigger the batch from the 'generated_files' target.
 $(DEEPCOPY_FILES): $(DEEPCOPY_GEN)
+	mkdir -p $$(dirname $(META_DIR)/$(DEEPCOPY_GEN))
 	echo $(PRJ_SRC_PATH)/$(@D) >> $(META_DIR)/$(DEEPCOPY_GEN).todo
 
 # This calculates the dependencies for the generator tool, so we only rebuild
@@ -341,8 +348,9 @@ $(foreach dir, $(CONVERSION_DIRS), $(eval           \
 # We regenerate the output file in order to satisfy make's "newer than" rules,
 # but we only need to rebuild targets if the contents actually changed.  That
 # is what the .stamp file represents.
-$(foreach dir, $(CONVERSION_DIRS), $(META_DIR)/$(dir)/$(CONVERSIONS_META)):
-	TAGS=$$(grep --color=never -h '^// *+k8s:conversion-gen=' $</*.go  \
+$(foreach dir, $(CONVERSION_DIRS),  \
+    $(META_DIR)/$(dir)/$(CONVERSIONS_META)):
+	TAGS=$$(grep --color=never -h '^// *+k8s:conversion-gen=' $</*.go   \
 	    | cut -f2- -d=                                    \
 	    | sed 's|$(PRJ_SRC_PATH)/||');                    \
 	mkdir -p $(@D);                                       \
@@ -407,6 +415,7 @@ $(shell rm -f $(META_DIR)/$(CONVERSION_GEN)*.todo)
 # How to regenerate conversion code.  This is a little slow to run, so we batch
 # it up and trigger the batch from the 'generated_files' target.
 $(CONVERSION_FILES): $(CONVERSION_GEN)
+	mkdir -p $$(dirname $(META_DIR)/$(CONVERSION_GEN))
 	echo $(PRJ_SRC_PATH)/$(@D) >> $(META_DIR)/$(CONVERSION_GEN).todo
 
 # This calculates the dependencies for the generator tool, so we only rebuild