diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 6d4abe6e90e..ef319fa4739 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@ endif
 endif
 
 MKTAGS?=ctags
+EMACS_COMPAT=
+ifneq (INSIDE_EMACS,)
+EMACS_COMPAT=-e
+endif
 
 # forward all named targets
 %:
@@ -41,7 +45,7 @@ install:
 .PHONY: TAGS
 .PHONY: tags
 TAGS tags:
-	$(MKTAGS) --exclude="misc/*" --exclude="test/*" -R .
+	$(MKTAGS) $(EMACS_COMPAT) --exclude="misc/*" --exclude="test/*" -R .
 
 # clean everything generated - shortcut on maintainer-clean
 .PHONY: pure