diff --git a/release/Makefile.ec2 b/release/Makefile.ec2
index f74d32027a7d..49a5e1e881e7 100644
--- a/release/Makefile.ec2
+++ b/release/Makefile.ec2
@@ -12,6 +12,15 @@ AMINAMESUFFIX!=	date +-%Y-%m-%d
 PUBLISH=	--public
 .endif
 
+CLEANFILES+=		ec2ami
+
+.if !exists(/usr/local/bin/bsdec2-image-upload)
+CW_EC2_PORTINSTALL=	cw-ec2-portinstall
+CLEANFILES+=		${CW_EC2_PORTINSTALL}
+.else
+CW_EC2_PORTINSTALL=
+.endif
+
 cw-ec2-portinstall:
 .if exists(${PORTSDIR}/net/bsdec2-image-upload/Makefile)
 	make -C ${PORTSDIR}/net/bsdec2-image-upload BATCH=1 all install clean
@@ -21,8 +30,10 @@ cw-ec2-portinstall:
 . endif
 	env ASSUME_ALWAYS_YES=yes pkg install -y net/bsdec2-image-upload
 .endif
+	@touch ${.TARGET}
 
-ec2ami: cw-ec2 cw-ec2-portinstall
+ec2ami: cw-ec2 ${CW_EC2_PORTINSTALL}
+	@false
 .if !defined(AWSKEYFILE) || !exists(${AWSKEYFILE})
 	@echo "--------------------------------------------------------------"
 	@echo ">>> AWSKEYFILE must point at AWS keys for EC2 AMI creation"
@@ -46,3 +57,4 @@ ec2ami: cw-ec2 cw-ec2-portinstall
 	    "${TYPE} ${REVISION}-${BRANCH}${AMINAMESUFFIX}"	\
 	    "${TYPE} ${REVISION}-${BRANCH}"			\
 	    ${AWSREGION} ${AWSBUCKET} ${AWSKEYFILE}
+	@touch ${.TARGET}