diff --git a/dlls/shell32/Makefile.in b/dlls/shell32/Makefile.in
index 8a37ee4822a..eeb6cd63d60 100644
--- a/dlls/shell32/Makefile.in
+++ b/dlls/shell32/Makefile.in
@@ -3,8 +3,6 @@ MODULE    = shell32.dll
 IMPORTLIB = shell32
 IMPORTS   = uuid shlwapi user32 gdi32 advapi32
 DELAYIMPORTS = ole32 oleaut32 shdocvw version comctl32 gdiplus
-# AUTHORS file is in the top-level directory
-EXTRAINCL = -I$(top_srcdir)
 
 C_SRCS = \
 	appbar.c \
diff --git a/dlls/shell32/shell32.rc b/dlls/shell32/shell32.rc
index f7f8eea2da5..f899a27f12c 100644
--- a/dlls/shell32/shell32.rc
+++ b/dlls/shell32/shell32.rc
@@ -1101,8 +1101,8 @@ IDR_AVI_FILENUKE AVI resources/searching.avi
 /* @makedep: resources/searching.avi */
 IDR_AVI_FILEDELETE AVI resources/searching.avi
 
-/* @makedep: AUTHORS */
-AUTHORS RCDATA AUTHORS
+/* @makedep: ../../AUTHORS */
+AUTHORS RCDATA ../../AUTHORS
 
 /* @makedep: shell32.manifest */
 124 RT_MANIFEST shell32.manifest
diff --git a/tools/makedep.c b/tools/makedep.c
index 46aea32440a..9110035d633 100644
--- a/tools/makedep.c
+++ b/tools/makedep.c
@@ -909,9 +909,6 @@ static void add_dependency( struct file *file, const char *name, enum incl_type
 {
     /* enforce some rules for the Wine tree */
 
-    if (!memcmp( name, "../", 3 ))
-        fatal_error( "#include directive with relative path not allowed\n" );
-
     if (!strcmp( name, "config.h" ))
     {
         if (strendswith( file->name, ".h" ))
@@ -1456,6 +1453,7 @@ static struct file *open_global_file( const struct makefile *make, const char *p
  */
 static struct file *open_global_header( const struct makefile *make, const char *path, char **filename )
 {
+    if (!strncmp( path, "../", 3 )) return NULL;
     return open_global_file( make, strmake( "include/%s", path ), filename );
 }