diff --git a/src/Makefile.global.in b/src/Makefile.global.in
index c980444233f..bbdc1c4bda6 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.global.in
+++ b/src/Makefile.global.in
@@ -448,8 +448,8 @@ ifeq ($(enable_tap_tests),yes)
 
 ifndef PGXS
 define prove_installcheck
-rm -rf '$(CURDIR)'/tmp_check
-$(MKDIR_P) '$(CURDIR)'/tmp_check
+rm -rf '$(CURDIR)'/tmp_check && \
+$(MKDIR_P) '$(CURDIR)'/tmp_check && \
 cd $(srcdir) && \
    TESTDIR='$(CURDIR)' PATH="$(bindir):$(CURDIR):$$PATH" \
    PGPORT='6$(DEF_PGPORT)' top_builddir='$(CURDIR)/$(top_builddir)' \
@@ -458,8 +458,8 @@ cd $(srcdir) && \
 endef
 else # PGXS case
 define prove_installcheck
-rm -rf '$(CURDIR)'/tmp_check
-$(MKDIR_P) '$(CURDIR)'/tmp_check
+rm -rf '$(CURDIR)'/tmp_check && \
+$(MKDIR_P) '$(CURDIR)'/tmp_check && \
 cd $(srcdir) && \
    TESTDIR='$(CURDIR)' PATH="$(bindir):$(CURDIR):$$PATH" \
    PGPORT='6$(DEF_PGPORT)' top_builddir='$(top_builddir)' \
@@ -469,8 +469,8 @@ endef
 endif # PGXS
 
 define prove_check
-rm -rf '$(CURDIR)'/tmp_check
-$(MKDIR_P) '$(CURDIR)'/tmp_check
+rm -rf '$(CURDIR)'/tmp_check && \
+$(MKDIR_P) '$(CURDIR)'/tmp_check && \
 cd $(srcdir) && \
    TESTDIR='$(CURDIR)' $(with_temp_install) PGPORT='6$(DEF_PGPORT)' \
    PG_REGRESS='$(CURDIR)/$(top_builddir)/src/test/regress/pg_regress' \
diff --git a/src/interfaces/libpq/.gitignore b/src/interfaces/libpq/.gitignore
index 7478dc344ac..829d683ed27 100644
--- a/src/interfaces/libpq/.gitignore
+++ b/src/interfaces/libpq/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 /exports.list
 /libpq-refs-stamp
+/tmp_check/
diff --git a/src/interfaces/libpq/Makefile b/src/interfaces/libpq/Makefile
index 844c95d47de..3c53393fa41 100644
--- a/src/interfaces/libpq/Makefile
+++ b/src/interfaces/libpq/Makefile
@@ -137,8 +137,14 @@ install: all installdirs install-lib
 	$(INSTALL_DATA) $(srcdir)/pqexpbuffer.h '$(DESTDIR)$(includedir_internal)'
 	$(INSTALL_DATA) $(srcdir)/pg_service.conf.sample '$(DESTDIR)$(datadir)/pg_service.conf.sample'
 
-installcheck:
-	$(MAKE) -C test $@
+test-build:
+	$(MAKE) -C test all
+
+check: test-build all
+	PATH="$(CURDIR)/test:$$PATH" && $(prove_check)
+
+installcheck: test-build all
+	PATH="$(CURDIR)/test:$$PATH" && $(prove_installcheck)
 
 installdirs: installdirs-lib
 	$(MKDIR_P) '$(DESTDIR)$(includedir)' '$(DESTDIR)$(includedir_internal)' '$(DESTDIR)$(datadir)'
@@ -153,6 +159,7 @@ uninstall: uninstall-lib
 
 clean distclean: clean-lib
 	$(MAKE) -C test $@
+	rm -rf tmp_check
 	rm -f $(OBJS) pthread.h libpq-refs-stamp
 # Might be left over from a Win32 client-only build
 	rm -f pg_config_paths.h