diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index f9567c157..336bea506 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+PHONY = all android-ndk android-sdk base clean coverage doc fetchthirdparty po pot static-check test testfront
+
 # koreader-base directory
 KOR_BASE?=base
 
@@ -69,7 +71,7 @@ ifeq ($(abspath $(OUTPUT_DIR)),$(OUTPUT_DIR))
 else
   ABSOLUTE_OUTPUT_DIR = $(KOR_BASE)/$(OUTPUT_DIR)
 endif
-OUTPUT_DIR_ARTIFACTS = $(ABSOLUTE_OUTPUT_DIR)/!(cache|history|thirdparty)
+OUTPUT_DIR_ARTIFACTS = $(ABSOLUTE_OUTPUT_DIR)/!(cache|cmake|history|staging|thirdparty)
 
 all: base
 	install -d $(INSTALL_DIR)/koreader
@@ -217,4 +219,10 @@ static-check:
 doc:
 	make -C doc
 
-.PHONY: all android-ndk android-sdk base clean doc test
+.NOTPARALLEL:
+.PHONY: $(PHONY)
+
+LEFTOVERS = $(filter-out $(PHONY) $(INSTALL_DIR)/%,$(MAKECMDGOALS))
+.PHONY: $(LEFTOVERS)
+$(LEFTOVERS):
+	$(MAKE) -C $(KOR_BASE) $@
diff --git a/kodev b/kodev
index eb2e52d0f..24e671de5 100755
--- a/kodev
+++ b/kodev
@@ -804,7 +804,7 @@ TARGET:
                     # We don't want to stack valgrind/catchsegv on top of GDB ;).
                     if [[ "${gdb}" == gdb* ]]; then
                         # The standard CLI needs a little hand holding to properly pass arguments to the process it'll monitor
-                        KOREADER_COMMAND="${gdb} --args ./luajit reader.lua ${KOREADER_ARGS} ${args}"
+                        KOREADER_COMMAND="${gdb} --directory "${CURDIR}/base" --args ./luajit reader.lua ${KOREADER_ARGS} ${args}"
                     else
                         KOREADER_COMMAND="${gdb} ./luajit reader.lua ${KOREADER_ARGS} ${args}"
                     fi
diff --git a/make/android.mk b/make/android.mk
index b27cc852b..4de10678e 100644
--- a/make/android.mk
+++ b/make/android.mk
@@ -64,4 +64,4 @@ update: all
 	cp $(ANDROID_LAUNCHER_DIR)/bin/NativeActivity.apk \
 		koreader-android-$(ANDROID_ARCH)$(KODEDUG_SUFFIX)-$(VERSION).apk
 
-.PHONY: androiddev update
+PHONY += androiddev update
diff --git a/make/appimage.mk b/make/appimage.mk
index fdf0e7059..afd208faa 100644
--- a/make/appimage.mk
+++ b/make/appimage.mk
@@ -33,4 +33,4 @@ endif
 		ARCH=x86_64 "$$OLDPWD/$(APPIMAGETOOL)" --appimage-extract-and-run koreader && \
 		mv *.AppImage ../../koreader-$(DIST)-$(MACHINE)-$(VERSION).AppImage
 
-.PHONY: update
+PHONY += update
diff --git a/make/cervantes.mk b/make/cervantes.mk
index 9b74794c6..f03f74acf 100644
--- a/make/cervantes.mk
+++ b/make/cervantes.mk
@@ -30,4 +30,4 @@ update: all
 	tar --hard-dereference -I"gzip --rsyncable" -cah --no-recursion -f ../$(CERVANTES_PACKAGE_OTA) \
 	-T koreader/ota/package.index
 
-.PHONY: update
+PHONY += update
diff --git a/make/kindle.mk b/make/kindle.mk
index 596642581..6f45988fb 100644
--- a/make/kindle.mk
+++ b/make/kindle.mk
@@ -43,4 +43,4 @@ update: all
 		tar --hard-dereference -I"gzip --rsyncable" -cah --no-recursion -f ../$(KINDLE_PACKAGE_OTA) \
 		-T koreader/ota/package.index
 
-.PHONY: update
+PHONY += update
diff --git a/make/kobo.mk b/make/kobo.mk
index 4dc3fb27f..d240fc1f3 100644
--- a/make/kobo.mk
+++ b/make/kobo.mk
@@ -30,4 +30,4 @@ update: all
 		tar --hard-dereference -I"gzip --rsyncable" -cah --no-recursion -f ../$(KOBO_PACKAGE_OTA) \
 		-T koreader/ota/package.index
 
-.PHONY: update
+PHONY += update
diff --git a/make/linux.mk b/make/linux.mk
index d3a92576a..b00a6c2fe 100644
--- a/make/linux.mk
+++ b/make/linux.mk
@@ -41,4 +41,4 @@ update: all
 
 	rm -rf $(INSTALL_DIR)/linux
 
-.PHONY: update
+PHONY += update
diff --git a/make/macos.mk b/make/macos.mk
index 95906784e..f34bfca60 100644
--- a/make/macos.mk
+++ b/make/macos.mk
@@ -11,4 +11,4 @@ update: all
 	rm -rfv "$(INSTALL_DIR)/bundle/Contents/MainMenu.xib"
 	$(CURDIR)/platform/mac/do_mac_bundle.sh $(INSTALL_DIR)
 
-.PHONY: update
+PHONY += update
diff --git a/make/pocketbook.mk b/make/pocketbook.mk
index 60ca78f19..474b3fa53 100644
--- a/make/pocketbook.mk
+++ b/make/pocketbook.mk
@@ -40,4 +40,4 @@ update: all
 		tar --hard-dereference -I"gzip --rsyncable" -cah --no-recursion -f ../../$(PB_PACKAGE_OTA) \
 		-T koreader/ota/package.index
 
-.PHONY: update
+PHONY += update
diff --git a/make/remarkable.mk b/make/remarkable.mk
index 26061af98..024e59278 100644
--- a/make/remarkable.mk
+++ b/make/remarkable.mk
@@ -29,4 +29,4 @@ update: all
 	        tar -I"gzip --rsyncable" -cah --no-recursion -f ../$(REMARKABLE_PACKAGE_OTA) \
 	        -T koreader/ota/package.index
 
-.PHONY: update
+PHONY += update
diff --git a/make/sony-prstux.mk b/make/sony-prstux.mk
index 88733a00c..38d6d90ec 100644
--- a/make/sony-prstux.mk
+++ b/make/sony-prstux.mk
@@ -28,4 +28,4 @@ update: all
 	        tar --hard-dereference -I"gzip --rsyncable" -cah --no-recursion -f ../$(SONY_PRSTUX_PACKAGE_OTA) \
 	        -T koreader/ota/package.index
 
-.PHONY: update
+PHONY += update
diff --git a/make/ubuntu-touch.mk b/make/ubuntu-touch.mk
index 7e797bbc8..46a22faa0 100644
--- a/make/ubuntu-touch.mk
+++ b/make/ubuntu-touch.mk
@@ -27,4 +27,4 @@ update: all
 		click build koreader && \
 		mv *.click ../../koreader-$(DIST)-$(MACHINE)-$(VERSION).click
 
-.PHONY: update
+PHONY += update
diff --git a/setupkoenv.lua b/setupkoenv.lua
index 5a55a5d7a..2bd1aad9b 100644
--- a/setupkoenv.lua
+++ b/setupkoenv.lua
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 -- set search path for 'require()'
 package.path =
-    "common/?.lua;rocks/share/lua/5.1/?.lua;frontend/?.lua;" ..
+    "common/?.lua;frontend/?.lua;" ..
     package.path
 package.cpath =
-    "common/?.so;common/?.dll;/usr/lib/lua/?.so;rocks/lib/lua/5.1/?.so;" ..
+    "common/?.so;common/?.dll;/usr/lib/lua/?.so;" ..
     package.cpath
 
 -- set search path for 'ffi.load()'
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ ffi.load = function(lib, global)
     local loaded, re = pcall(ffi_load, lib)
     if loaded then return re end
 
-    local lib_path = package.searchpath(lib, "./lib?.so;./libs/lib?.so;./libs/lib?.so.1;./rocks/lib/lua/5.1/lib?.so")
+    local lib_path = package.searchpath(lib, "./lib?.so;./libs/lib?.so;./libs/lib?.so.1")
 
     if not lib_path then
         io.write("ffi.load (warning): ", re, "\n")
diff --git a/spec/unit/commonrequire.lua b/spec/unit/commonrequire.lua
index 68baccb22..4b5db4a79 100644
--- a/spec/unit/commonrequire.lua
+++ b/spec/unit/commonrequire.lua
@@ -34,8 +34,8 @@ if not busted_ok then
     end
 end
 
-package.path = "?.lua;common/?.lua;rocks/share/lua/5.1/?.lua;frontend/?.lua;" .. package.path
-package.cpath = "?.so;common/?.so;/usr/lib/lua/?.so;rocks/lib/lua/5.1/?.so;" .. package.cpath
+package.path = "?.lua;common/?.lua;frontend/?.lua;" .. package.path
+package.cpath = "?.so;common/?.so;/usr/lib/lua/?.so;" .. package.cpath
 
 -- turn off debug by default and set log level to warning
 require("dbg"):turnOff()
diff --git a/spec/unit/dbg_spec.lua b/spec/unit/dbg_spec.lua
index 675761111..25905752e 100644
--- a/spec/unit/dbg_spec.lua
+++ b/spec/unit/dbg_spec.lua
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 describe("Dbg module", function()
     local dbg, dbg_on
     setup(function()
-        package.path = "?.lua;common/?.lua;rocks/share/lua/5.1/?.lua;frontend/?.lua;" .. package.path
+        package.path = "?.lua;common/?.lua;frontend/?.lua;" .. package.path
         dbg = require("dbg")
         dbg_on = dbg.is_on
     end)
diff --git a/tools/benchmark.lua b/tools/benchmark.lua
index f3f1c18c7..77666fa07 100644
--- a/tools/benchmark.lua
+++ b/tools/benchmark.lua
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 -- usage: ./luajit tools/benchmark.lua test/sample.pdf
 
 require "defaults"
-package.path = "common/?.lua;rocks/share/lua/5.1/?.lua;frontend/?.lua;" .. package.path
-package.cpath = "common/?.so;common/?.dll;/usr/lib/lua/?.so;rocks/lib/lua/5.1/?.so;" .. package.cpath
+package.path = "common/?.lua;frontend/?.lua;" .. package.path
+package.cpath = "common/?.so;common/?.dll;/usr/lib/lua/?.so;" .. package.cpath
 
 local DataStorage = require("datastorage")
 --G_reader_settings = require("docsettings"):open(".reader")
diff --git a/tools/kobo_touch_probe.lua b/tools/kobo_touch_probe.lua
index dbebdb15a..f4042e00b 100755
--- a/tools/kobo_touch_probe.lua
+++ b/tools/kobo_touch_probe.lua
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 -- usage: ./luajit tools/kobo_touch_probe.lua
 
 require "defaults"
-package.path = "common/?.lua;rocks/share/lua/5.1/?.lua;frontend/?.lua;" .. package.path
-package.cpath = "common/?.so;common/?.dll;/usr/lib/lua/?.so;rocks/lib/lua/5.1/?.so;" .. package.cpath
+package.path = "common/?.lua;frontend/?.lua;" .. package.path
+package.cpath = "common/?.so;common/?.dll;/usr/lib/lua/?.so;" .. package.cpath
 
 local DataStorage = require("datastorage")
 local _ = require("gettext")
diff --git a/tools/wbuilder.lua b/tools/wbuilder.lua
index 61442553a..2edf1bda0 100755
--- a/tools/wbuilder.lua
+++ b/tools/wbuilder.lua
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 -- usage: ./luajit tools/wtest.lua
 
 print(package.path)
-package.path = "common/?.lua;rocks/share/lua/5.1/?.lua;frontend/?.lua;" .. package.path
-package.cpath = "common/?.so;common/?.dll;/usr/lib/lua/?.so;rocks/lib/lua/5.1/?.so;" .. package.cpath
+package.path = "common/?.lua;frontend/?.lua;" .. package.path
+package.cpath = "common/?.so;common/?.dll;/usr/lib/lua/?.so;" .. package.cpath
 
 -- Load default settings
 G_defaults = require("luadefaults"):open()