diff --git a/libmuguile/Makefile.am b/libmuguile/Makefile.am
index 285d3e60..793df59c 100644
--- a/libmuguile/Makefile.am
+++ b/libmuguile/Makefile.am
@@ -16,9 +16,10 @@
 
 include $(top_srcdir)/gtest.mk
 
-# enforce compiling this dir first before decending into tests/
+# note, we need top_builddir for snarfing with 'make distcheck' (ie.,
+# with separate builddir)
 SUBDIRS= .
-INCLUDES=-I${top_srcdir} -I${top_srcdir}/src ${GUILE_CFLAGS} ${GLIB_CFLAGS}
+INCLUDES=-I${top_builddir} -I${top_srcdir} -I${top_srcdir}/src ${GUILE_CFLAGS} ${GLIB_CFLAGS}
 
 # don't use -Werror, as it might break on other compilers
 # use -Wno-unused-parameters, because some callbacks may not