diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 04f767e4..a0ca7f8d 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -9,12 +9,6 @@ S3_BUCKET = artifacts.ci.balena-cloud.com
 # This directory will be completely deleted by the `clean` rule
 BUILD_DIRECTORY ?= dist
 
-# See http://stackoverflow.com/a/20763842/1641422
-BUILD_DIRECTORY_PARENT = $(dir $(BUILD_DIRECTORY))
-ifeq ($(wildcard $(BUILD_DIRECTORY_PARENT).),)
-$(error $(BUILD_DIRECTORY_PARENT) does not exist)
-endif
-
 BUILD_TEMPORARY_DIRECTORY = $(BUILD_DIRECTORY)/.tmp
 
 $(BUILD_DIRECTORY):
@@ -91,7 +85,7 @@ TARGET_ARCH ?= $(HOST_ARCH)
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Electron
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-electron-develop: | $(BUILD_TEMPORARY_DIRECTORY)
+electron-develop:
 	$(RESIN_SCRIPTS)/electron/install.sh \
 		-b $(shell pwd) \
 		-r $(TARGET_ARCH) \