diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index f4a81bd0a..c5f80e8d3 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
+# koreader-base directory
+KOR_BASE=koreader-base
+
 # the repository might not have been checked out yet, so make this
 # able to fail:
 -include $(KOR_BASE)/Makefile.defs
 
-# koreader-base directory
-KOR_BASE=koreader-base
-
 # we want VERSION to carry the version of koreader, not koreader-base
 VERSION=$(shell git describe HEAD)