diff --git a/dist/tools/pic32prog/Makefile b/dist/tools/pic32prog/Makefile
index a4ada7dd2d..45673fb712 100644
--- a/dist/tools/pic32prog/Makefile
+++ b/dist/tools/pic32prog/Makefile
@@ -2,7 +2,10 @@ PKG_NAME     = pic32prog
 PKG_URL      = https://github.com/sergev/pic32prog
 PKG_VERSION  = b9f8db3b352804392b02b42475fc42874ac8bf04
 PKG_LICENSE  = GPL-2
-PKG_BUILDDIR = bin
+
+# manually set some RIOT env vars, so this Makefile can be called stand-alone
+RIOTBASE ?= $(CURDIR)/../../..
+RIOTTOOLS ?= $(CURDIR)/..
 
 PKG_SOURCE_DIR = $(CURDIR)/bin
 PKG_BUILD_OUT_OF_SOURCE = 0
@@ -12,10 +15,12 @@ include $(RIOTBASE)/pkg/pkg.mk
 #
 #     sudo apt-get install libusb-dev libusb-1.0-0-dev libudev-dev
 
-all:
+all: $(CURDIR)/pic32prog
+
+$(CURDIR)/pic32prog:
 	@echo "[INFO] compiling pic32prog from source now"
 	@env -i PATH=$(PATH) TERM=$(TERM) $(MAKE) -C $(PKG_BUILD_DIR)
-	@mv $(PKG_BUILD_DIR)/pic32prog pic32prog
+	@mv $(PKG_BUILD_DIR)/pic32prog $(CURDIR)/pic32prog
 
-distclean::
-	@rm -f pic32prog
+clean::
+	rm -f $(CURDIR)/pic32prog