diff --git a/test/java/Makefile.am b/test/java/Makefile.am
index 853207e..1b6e839 100644
--- a/test/java/Makefile.am
+++ b/test/java/Makefile.am
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 check:
 	$(ANT) test
 
+# Make sure this doesn't fail if ant is not configured.
 clean-local:
-	$(ANT) clean
+	ANT=$(ANT) ; if test -z "$$ANT" ; then ANT=: ; fi ; \
+	$$ANT clean