diff --git a/Makefile.inc1 b/Makefile.inc1
index b1d33a51124b..f875070ae073 100644
--- a/Makefile.inc1
+++ b/Makefile.inc1
@@ -431,7 +431,7 @@ buildkernel:
 			${KERNCONFDIR}/${_kernel}
 .endif
 .if !defined(NOCLEAN) && !defined(NO_KERNELCLEAN)
-.if defined(NO_MODULES) || !exists(${KRNLSRCDIR}/modules)
+.if defined(MODULES_WITH_WORLD) || defined(NO_MODULES) || !exists(${KRNLSRCDIR}/modules)
 	cd ${KRNLOBJDIR}/${_kernel}; \
 	    ${KMAKEENV} ${MAKE} KERNEL=${INSTKERNNAME} clean
 .else