diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 30a6088d5..20d188406 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -163,7 +163,8 @@ luarocks-lint: $(LUAMODSPEC)
 luacheck:
 	luacheck -j$(shell nproc) -q .
 
-busted: $(wildcard spec/*_spec.lua)
+.PHONY: busted
+busted: | $(_INSTALL) all
 	set -f; IFS=';'
 if SYSTEM_LUAROCKS
 	packagecpath=(./{,core/}?.$(SHARED_LIB_EXT))