diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index aa0d2f90fa612ffd0a4372e987c2584565b63a2b..bda29274ecee52f7c9a067b4c8895dcd51b11e3f 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -921,7 +921,8 @@ man/%.7.in man/%.8.in man/%.1.in: man/%.gen man/footer.man
 	set -o pipefail ; \
 	$(PANDOC) -s -f rst -t man -A man/footer.man $< | \
 	  sed -e 's/\\@/@/g' > $@
-	if test -n "$(MAN_HAS_WARNINGS)"; then $(CHECK_MAN) $@; fi
+	if test -n "$(MAN_HAS_WARNINGS)"; then $(CHECK_MAN) $@ || \
+	  { rm -f "$@"; exit 1; } ; fi
 
 man/%.html.in: man/%.gen man/footer.html
 	@test -n "$(PANDOC)" || \