diff --git a/src/cf/sysname.m4 b/src/cf/sysname.m4
index e051f983ee..2530ecd106 100644
--- a/src/cf/sysname.m4
+++ b/src/cf/sysname.m4
@@ -444,4 +444,11 @@ case $AFS_SYSNAME in
                 AFS_PARAM=param.${AFS_SYSNAME}.h
                 ;;
 esac
+
+#
+# Set the `make dest` target destination path.
+#
+if test "x${DEST}" = "x"; then
+    DEST="${SRCDIR_PARENT}/${AFS_SYSNAME}/dest"
+fi
 ])
diff --git a/src/cf/topdirs.m4 b/src/cf/topdirs.m4
index 2888d0c632..c24ff11540 100644
--- a/src/cf/topdirs.m4
+++ b/src/cf/topdirs.m4
@@ -14,7 +14,4 @@ esac
 TOP_OBJDIR="${SRCDIR_PARENT}"
 TOP_INCDIR="${SRCDIR_PARENT}/include"
 TOP_LIBDIR="${SRCDIR_PARENT}/lib"
-if test "${DEST}x" = "x"; then
-        DEST="${SRCDIR_PARENT}/${AFS_SYSNAME}/dest"
-fi
 ])