diff --git a/util/Makefile.am b/util/Makefile.am
index 1c0cff993..8b1aa21be 100644
--- a/util/Makefile.am
+++ b/util/Makefile.am
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 
 util: malloc-stats.so
 
-%.so: %.la
+.la.so:
 	$(RM) $@
 	$(LN_S) .libs/$*.so $@