diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 8b3162703dd13802ba74e254d4394f627458feff..19c9eb473cc0f2bc9aa98c6d1da4f86ebed92524 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ debug:
 	$(MAKE) all CFLAGS="" AM_CPPFLAGS="-ggdb -DDEBUG"
 
 coverage:
-	$(MAKE) all CFLAGS="" AM_CPPFLAGS="-fprofile-arcs -ftest-coverage -DDEBUG" AM_LDFLAGS="-lgcov"
+	$(MAKE) all CFLAGS="" AM_CPPFLAGS="-fprofile-arcs -ftest-coverage -DDEBUG" LDFLAGS="-lgcov"
 
 .c.h:
 	@srcdir@/scripts/MakeHeader.py $<