diff --git a/build/root/Makefile b/build/root/Makefile
index c6c39e0b005..c99ef99b54a 100644
--- a/build/root/Makefile
+++ b/build/root/Makefile
@@ -70,6 +70,8 @@ define ALL_HELP_INFO
 #   WHAT: Directory names to build.  If any of these directories has a 'main'
 #     package, the build will produce executable files under $(OUT_DIR)/bin.
 #     If not specified, "everything" will be built.
+#     "vendor/<module>/<path>" is accepted as alias for "<module>/<path>".
+#     "ginkgo" is an alias for the ginkgo CLI.
 #   GOFLAGS: Extra flags to pass to 'go' when building.
 #   GOLDFLAGS: Extra linking flags passed to 'go' when building.
 #   GOGCFLAGS: Additional go compile flags passed to 'go' when building.
diff --git a/hack/lib/golang.sh b/hack/lib/golang.sh
index 52a692a852a..b3713e31570 100755
--- a/hack/lib/golang.sh
+++ b/hack/lib/golang.sh
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ readonly KUBE_SERVER_IMAGE_BINARIES=("${KUBE_SERVER_IMAGE_TARGETS[@]##*/}")
 kube::golang::conformance_image_targets() {
   # NOTE: this contains cmd targets for kube::release::build_conformance_image
   local targets=(
-    github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2/ginkgo
+    ginkgo
     test/e2e/e2e.test
     test/conformance/image/go-runner
     cmd/kubectl
@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@ kube::golang::test_targets() {
     cmd/genyaml
     cmd/genswaggertypedocs
     cmd/linkcheck
-    github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2/ginkgo
+    ginkgo
     test/e2e/e2e.test
     test/conformance/image/go-runner
   )
@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@ readonly KUBE_TEST_PORTABLE=(
 kube::golang::server_test_targets() {
   local targets=(
     cmd/kubemark
-    github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2/ginkgo
+    ginkgo
   )
 
   if [[ "${OSTYPE:-}" == "linux"* ]]; then
@@ -382,7 +382,14 @@ kube::golang::is_statically_linked_library() {
 kube::golang::binaries_from_targets() {
   local target
   for target; do
-    if [[ "${target}" =~ ^([[:alnum:]]+".")+[[:alnum:]]+"/" ]]; then
+    if [ "${target}" = "ginkgo" ] ||
+       [ "${target}" = "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/ginkgo" ] ||
+       [ "${target}" = "vendor/github.com/onsi/ginkgo/ginkgo" ]; then
+      # Aliases that build the ginkgo CLI for hack/ginkgo-e2e.sh.
+      # "ginkgo" is the one that is documented in the Makefile. The others
+      # are for backwards compatibility.
+      echo "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2/ginkgo"
+    elif [[ "${target}" =~ ^([[:alnum:]]+".")+[[:alnum:]]+"/" ]]; then
       # If the target starts with what looks like a domain name, assume it has a
       # fully-qualified package name rather than one that needs the Kubernetes
       # package prepended.