diff --git a/Makefile.lib b/Makefile.lib
index cde5a597..f0219e10 100644
--- a/Makefile.lib
+++ b/Makefile.lib
@@ -181,10 +181,12 @@ TESTDEPS += $(TESTDEPS-yes)
 TEST_LIB=$(top_srcdir)/test/libtest.sh
 export TEST_LIB
 
-define test_prog
-$(1): $(1).o $(TESTDEPS)
-	$$(call cmd,link)
-endef
+# This does the work for the next rule. It is a very general rule
+# but as long as we don't put test programs in src/ it should work.
+%: %.o $(TESTDEPS)
+	$(call cmd,link)
+
+$(TEST_PROGS): $(addsuffix .o,$(TEST_PROGS)) $(TESTDEPS)
 
 TESTS = $(wildcard $(srcdir)test-*)
 
@@ -201,8 +203,6 @@ CLEAN += $(TEST_PROGS) $(addsuffix .o,$(TEST_PROGS))
 clean-default: clean-test
 endif
 
-$(foreach prog,$(TEST_PROGS),$(eval $(call test_prog,$(prog))))
-
 .PHONY: $(TESTS)
 .NOPARALLEL: