diff --git a/Documentation/Makefile.sphinx b/Documentation/Makefile.sphinx
index b88f666f72bb..fd32fc727777 100644
--- a/Documentation/Makefile.sphinx
+++ b/Documentation/Makefile.sphinx
@@ -91,6 +91,11 @@ epubdocs:
 xmldocs:
 	@$(foreach var,$(SPHINXDIRS),$(call loop_cmd,sphinx,xml,$(var),xml,$(var)))
 
+endif # HAVE_SPHINX
+
+# The following targets are independent of HAVE_SPHINX, and the rules should
+# work or silently pass without Sphinx.
+
 # no-ops for the Sphinx toolchain
 sgmldocs:
 psdocs:
@@ -101,8 +106,6 @@ cleandocs:
 	$(Q)rm -rf $(BUILDDIR)
 	$(Q)$(MAKE) BUILDDIR=$(abspath $(BUILDDIR)) $(build)=Documentation/media clean
 
-endif # HAVE_SPHINX
-
 dochelp:
 	@echo  ' Linux kernel internal documentation in different formats (Sphinx):'
 	@echo  '  htmldocs        - HTML'