diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 0390a89d5..93bd9b3bf 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ bootstrapemu:
 	test -e $(EMU_DIR)/koreader-base || (cd $(EMU_DIR) && ln -s ../$(KOR_BASE)/koreader-base ./)
 	test -e $(EMU_DIR)/extr || (cd $(EMU_DIR) && ln -s ../$(KOR_BASE)/extr ./)
 	test -e $(EMU_DIR)/reader.lua || (cd $(EMU_DIR) && ln -s ../reader.lua ./)
-	test -e $(EMU_DIR)/history || (cd $(EMU_DIR) && mkdir history)
+	test -e $(EMU_DIR)/history || (mkdir $(EMU_DIR)/history)
 
 customupdate: $(KOR_BASE)/koreader-base $(KOR_BASE)/extr
 	# ensure that the binaries were built for ARM