diff --git a/external/common/rules.mk b/external/common/rules.mk
index bb12fd5b286b..8c5749b57f89 100644
--- a/external/common/rules.mk
+++ b/external/common/rules.mk
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ ARCH_OBJS := $(addprefix common-,$(ARCH_FILES:.c=.o))
 # Arch links are like this so we can have dependencies work (so that we don't
 # run the rule when the links exist), pretty build output (knowing the target
 # name) and a list of the files so we can clean them up.
-ARCH_LINKS := common/ast-sf-ctrl.c common/ast.h common/io.h
+ARCH_LINKS ?= common/ast-sf-ctrl.c common/ast.h common/io.h
 
 arch_links: $(ARCH_LINKS)
 common/ast.h : ../../include/ast.h | common
diff --git a/external/gard/.gitignore b/external/gard/.gitignore
index 7c81877cfaa5..7e8f83f2044a 100644
--- a/external/gard/.gitignore
+++ b/external/gard/.gitignore
@@ -8,3 +8,4 @@ gard
 test/test.sh
 libflash
 make_version.sh
+gard-*.tar
diff --git a/external/gard/Makefile b/external/gard/Makefile
index b54923d20083..2ccd1440df6b 100644
--- a/external/gard/Makefile
+++ b/external/gard/Makefile
@@ -8,11 +8,10 @@ all: links arch_links $(EXE)
 #Rebuild version.o so that the the version always matches
 #what the test suite will get from ./make_version.sh
 check: version.o all
+	@ln -sf ../../make_version.sh make_version.sh
 	@ln -sf ../../test/test.sh test/test.sh
 	@test/test-gard
 
-links += make_version.sh
-
 .PHONY: VERSION-always
 .version: VERSION-always
 	@echo $(GARD_VERSION) > $@.tmp
@@ -20,20 +19,20 @@ links += make_version.sh
 	@rm -f $@.tmp
 
 .PHONY: dist
-#File is named $(PFLASH_VERSION).tar because the expectation is that pflash-
+#File is named $(GARD_VERSION).tar because the expectation is that gard-
 #is always at the start of the verion. This remains consistent with skiboot
 #version strings
-dist: links .version
-	find -L ../pflash/ -iname '*.[ch]' -print0 | xargs -0 tar -rhf $(PFLASH_VERSION).tar
-	tar --transform 's/Makefile.dist/Makefile/' -rhf $(PFLASH_VERSION).tar \
-		../pflash/Makefile.dist ../pflash/rules.mk \
-		../pflash/.version ../pflash/make_version.sh \
-		../pflash/common/*
+dist: arch_links links .version
+	@find -L ../gard/ -iname '*.[ch]' -print0 | xargs -0 tar -rhf $(GARD_VERSION).tar
+	@tar --transform 's/Makefile.dist/Makefile/' -rhf $(GARD_VERSION).tar \
+		../gard/Makefile.dist ../gard/rules.mk \
+		../gard/.version ../gard/common/*
 
 clean: arch_clean
 	rm -f $(OBJS) $(EXE) *.o *.d .version .version.tmp
 
 distclean: clean
 	rm -f *.c~ *.h~ *.sh~ Makefile~ config.mk~ libflash/*.c~ libflash/*.h~
-	rm -f libflash ccan common io.h make_version.sh
+	rm -f libflash ccan common io.h version.c make_version.sh
+	rm -f gard-*.tar
 
diff --git a/external/gard/Makefile.dist b/external/gard/Makefile.dist
index 46edcb13c905..759b3eab56b5 100644
--- a/external/gard/Makefile.dist
+++ b/external/gard/Makefile.dist
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+#Prevent make from trying to remake arch links symlinks
+#which are fixed files now
+ARCH_LINKS :=
+
+GARD_VERSION := $(shell cat .version)
+
 include rules.mk
 GET_ARCH = common/get_arch.sh
 include common/rules.mk
diff --git a/external/gard/rules.mk b/external/gard/rules.mk
index acaf723eb113..c0b8a57f9658 100644
--- a/external/gard/rules.mk
+++ b/external/gard/rules.mk
@@ -14,9 +14,11 @@ sbindir = $(prefix)/sbin
 datadir = $(prefix)/share
 mandir = $(datadir)/man
 
-GARD_VERSION ?= $(shell ./make_version.sh $(EXE))
+#This will only be unset if we're running out of git tree,
+#../../make_version.sh is garanteed to exist that way
+GARD_VERSION ?= $(shell ../../make_version.sh $(EXE))
 
-version.c: make_version.sh .version
+version.c: .version
 	@(if [ "a$(GARD_VERSION)" = "a" ]; then \
 	echo "#error You need to set GARD_VERSION environment variable" > $@ ;\
 	else \