diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index ed5ec42138..9c5bfa5356 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -51,9 +51,48 @@ memcheck distcheck-valgrind:
 distcleancheck:
 	@:
 
-clean-local:
-	rm -f *-spellchecked
-	rm -f cppcheck*.xml
+# Quick alias for root dir recipe:
+realclean: maintainer-clean
+
+# Files made by our targets:
+CLEANFILES = *-spellchecked cppcheck*.xml
+DISTCLEANFILES = ChangeLog
+
+# Most of the files generated by custom rules in the configure script
+# or by autogen.sh are cleaned by the Makefile.am in their directories.
+# Files below are re-created by running `configure` script and may be
+# wiped by a `make distclean`:
+DISTCLEANFILES += config.log configure~
+#???# configure.ac~
+DISTCLEANFILES += include/config.h.in~
+
+# Files made by autotools and common rituals of the configure script,
+# these are needed to run the configure script itself so are not wiped
+# by a mere `make distclean`; most of these are copied by autotools
+# from their installation, or made by `automake` etc. on the system
+# which generates `configure`; rebuilding NUT after deleting these
+# requires `autogen.sh` script to be re-run (and tools available):
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = INSTALL
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES += aclocal.m4 config.guess config.sub
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES += configure
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES += depcomp install-sh ltmain.sh missing test-driver
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES += m4/libtool.m4 m4/ltoptions.m4 m4/ltsugar.m4 m4/ltversion.m4 m4/lt~obsolete.m4
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES += Makefile.in include/config.h.in
+
+# Do not let $SUBDIRS/Makefile rules delete their local .deps because
+# this breaks our ability to clean up (e.g. some common/.../*.Plo files
+# are included by generated Makefiles from other subdirectories, so they
+# should be available during their clean-up). Just in case, we make sure
+# here that their sub-distcleans complete first.
+distclean-local:
+	@for DIR in $(SUBDIRS) ; do \
+		if test -f "$${DIR}/Makefile" ; then \
+			echo "  DISTCLEAN  in $${DIR}" >&2 ; \
+			( cd "$${DIR}" && $(MAKE) -s distclean ) || exit ; \
+		fi ; \
+	 done
+	rm -rf .inst tmp autom4te.cache
+	find "$(builddir)" -type d -name '.deps' | while read DIR ; do rm -rf "$${DIR}" ; done
 
 # Hook the documentation building and validating recipes
 # Note: these are optionally available (as determined during configure runs)
@@ -122,7 +161,7 @@ endif !HAVE_CPPCHECK
 
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Automatically generate the ChangeLog from Git logs:
-MAINTAINERCLEAN_FILES = ChangeLog
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES += ChangeLog
 
 # Older boundary of the ChangeLog commits range
 # It can be a tag ('v2.2.0'), a commit hash, a date, ...
@@ -141,6 +180,9 @@ ChangeLog: tools/gitlog2changelog.py dummy-stamp
 nut_version.h include/nut_version.h:
 	cd $(abs_top_builddir)/include && $(MAKE) nut_version.h
 
+tools/gitlog2changelog.py: tools/gitlog2changelog.py.in
+	cd $(@D) && $(MAKE) -s $(@F)
+
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Maintainers targets: distribution signature and hashes
 dist-sig:
@@ -206,6 +248,23 @@ snmp build-snmp install-snmp install-snmp-mgr install-snmp-man:
 setver:
 	@echo "Error: 'make setver' no longer exists."
 	@echo "Edit configure.ac to set version number."
+
+# Clean the dist tarball and packages
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES_DISTBALL = nut-*.tar.gz
+# HP-UX:
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES_PACKAGES = NUT_HPUX_package@PACKAGE_VERSION@.depot
+# AIX as below, and RedHat-compatible (cover binary and source packages):
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES_PACKAGES += nut*rpm
+# Debian-compatible (cover binary and source packages):
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES_PACKAGES += nut*deb
+# Solaris SVR4 package archives:
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES_PACKAGES += NUT_solaris_*_package@PACKAGE_VERSION@.local.gz
+# Newer Solaris IPS (aka "pkg(5)" format archives)
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES_PACKAGES += *.p5p
+
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES += $(MAINTAINERCLEANFILES_DISTBALL)
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES += $(MAINTAINERCLEANFILES_PACKAGES)
+
 package:
 	DESTDIR="$(abs_builddir)/_install_pkgprotodir" ; export DESTDIR; \
 	rm -rf "$$DESTDIR"; \
diff --git a/ci_build.sh b/ci_build.sh
index 8f29b81626..904a662e9a 100755
--- a/ci_build.sh
+++ b/ci_build.sh
@@ -220,6 +220,19 @@ configure_nut() {
         CONFIGURE_SCRIPT=./configure.bat
     fi
 
+    if [ ! -s "$CONFIGURE_SCRIPT" ]; then
+        # Note: modern auto(re)conf requires pkg-config to generate the configure
+        # script, so to stage the situation of building without one (as if on an
+        # older system) we have to remove it when we already have the script.
+        # This matches the use-case of distro-building from release tarballs that
+        # include all needed pre-generated files to rely less on OS facilities.
+        if [ "$CI_OS_NAME" = "windows" ] ; then
+            $CI_TIME ./autogen.sh || true
+        else
+            $CI_TIME ./autogen.sh ### 2>/dev/null
+        fi || exit
+    fi
+
     # Help copy-pasting build setups from CI logs to terminal:
     local CONFIG_OPTS_STR="`for F in "${CONFIG_OPTS[@]}" ; do echo "'$F' " ; done`" ### | tr '\n' ' '`"
     echo "=== CONFIGURING NUT: $CONFIGURE_SCRIPT ${CONFIG_OPTS_STR}"
@@ -252,6 +265,29 @@ build_to_only_catch_errors() {
     return 0
 }
 
+optional_maintainer_clean_check() {
+    if [ "${DO_MAINTAINER_CLEAN_CHECK-}" = "no" ] ; then
+        echo "Skipping maintainer-clean check because recipe/developer said so"
+    else
+        [ -z "$CI_TIME" ] || echo "`date`: Starting maintainer-clean check of currently tested project..."
+
+        # Note: currently Makefile.am has just a dummy "distcleancheck" rule
+        $CI_TIME $MAKE VERBOSE=1 DISTCHECK_FLAGS="$DISTCHECK_FLAGS" $PARMAKE_FLAGS maintainer-clean || return
+
+        echo "=== Are GitIgnores good after '$MAKE maintainer-clean'? (should have no output below)"
+        git status --ignored -s || true
+        echo "==="
+
+        if [ -n "`git status --ignored -s`" ] && [ "$CI_REQUIRE_GOOD_GITIGNORE" != false ]; then
+            echo "FATAL: There are changes in some files listed above - tracked sources should be updated in the PR, and build products should be added to a .gitignore file, everything made should be cleaned and no tracked files should be removed!" >&2
+            git diff || true
+            echo "==="
+            return 1
+        fi
+    fi
+    return 0
+}
+
 echo "Processing BUILD_TYPE='${BUILD_TYPE}' ..."
 
 echo "Build host settings:"
@@ -642,7 +678,7 @@ default|default-alldrv|default-alldrv:no-distcheck|default-all-errors|default-sp
     else
         $CI_TIME ./autogen.sh ### 2>/dev/null
     fi
-    if [ "$NO_PKG_CONFIG" == "true" ] && [ "$CI_OS_NAME" = "linux" ] ; then
+    if [ "$NO_PKG_CONFIG" == "true" ] && [ "$CI_OS_NAME" = "linux" ] && (command -v dpkg) ; then
         echo "NO_PKG_CONFIG==true : BUTCHER pkg-config for this test case" >&2
         sudo dpkg -r --force all pkg-config
     fi
@@ -678,6 +714,9 @@ default|default-alldrv|default-alldrv:no-distcheck|default-all-errors|default-sp
                 echo "CCache stats after build:"
                 ccache -s
             fi
+
+            optional_maintainer_clean_check || exit
+
             echo "=== Exiting after the custom-build target '$MAKE $BUILD_TGT' succeeded OK"
             exit 0
             ;;
@@ -777,6 +816,11 @@ default|default-alldrv|default-alldrv:no-distcheck|default-all-errors|default-sp
                     RES=$?
                     FAILED="${FAILED} NUT_SSL_VARIANT=${NUT_SSL_VARIANT}[build]"
                 }
+
+                optional_maintainer_clean_check || {
+                    RES=$?
+                    FAILED="${FAILED} NUT_SSL_VARIANT=${NUT_SSL_VARIANT}[maintainer_clean]"
+                }
             done
             # TODO: Similar loops for other variations like TESTING,
             # MGE SHUT vs other serial protocols, libusb version...
@@ -827,9 +871,18 @@ default|default-alldrv|default-alldrv:no-distcheck|default-all-errors|default-sp
         echo "=== Are GitIgnores good after '$MAKE distcheck'? (should have no output below)"
         git status -s || true
         echo "==="
+
+        if [ -n "`git status -s`" ] && [ "$CI_REQUIRE_GOOD_GITIGNORE" != false ]; then
+            echo "FATAL: There are changes in some files listed above - tracked sources should be updated in the PR, and build products should be added to a .gitignore file!" >&2
+            git diff || true
+            echo "==="
+            exit 1
+        fi
         )
     fi
 
+    optional_maintainer_clean_check || exit
+
     if [ "$HAVE_CCACHE" = yes ]; then
         echo "CCache stats after build:"
         ccache -s
diff --git a/clients/Makefile.am b/clients/Makefile.am
index d77db3f765..25a2c7e93c 100644
--- a/clients/Makefile.am
+++ b/clients/Makefile.am
@@ -94,3 +94,10 @@ libnutclientstub_la_LIBADD = libnutclient.la
 else
 EXTRA_DIST += nutclientmem.h nutclientmem.cpp
 endif
+
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = Makefile.in
+
+# NOTE: Do not clean ".deps" in SUBDIRS of the main project,
+# the root Makefile.am takes care of that!
+#clean-local:
+#	rm -rf $(builddir)/.deps
diff --git a/common/Makefile.am b/common/Makefile.am
index 3917a80039..1d00e38123 100644
--- a/common/Makefile.am
+++ b/common/Makefile.am
@@ -20,3 +20,10 @@ libcommonclient_la_SOURCES = common.c state.c str.c
 # using LTLIBOBJS. Refer to configure.in/.ac -> AC_REPLACE_FUNCS
 libcommon_la_LIBADD = libparseconf.la @LTLIBOBJS@
 libcommonclient_la_LIBADD = libparseconf.la @LTLIBOBJS@
+
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = Makefile.in
+
+# NOTE: Do not clean ".deps" in SUBDIRS of the main project,
+# the root Makefile.am takes care of that!
+#clean-local:
+#	rm -rf $(builddir)/.deps
diff --git a/conf/Makefile.am b/conf/Makefile.am
index 2d5947dd5d..220265312b 100644
--- a/conf/Makefile.am
+++ b/conf/Makefile.am
@@ -19,9 +19,6 @@ nodist_sysconf_DATA = upssched.conf.sample upsmon.conf.sample
 SPELLCHECK_SRC = $(dist_sysconf_DATA) \
  upssched.conf.sample.in upsmon.conf.sample.in
 
-clean-local:
-	rm -f *.pdf *.html *-spellchecked
-
 # NOTE: Due to portability, we do not use a GNU percent-wildcard extension:
 #%-spellchecked: % Makefile.am $(top_srcdir)/docs/Makefile.am $(abs_srcdir)/$(NUT_SPELL_DICT)
 #	$(MAKE) -s -f $(top_builddir)/docs/Makefile SPELLCHECK_SRC_ONE="$<" SPELLCHECK_DIR="$(srcdir)" $@
@@ -38,3 +35,7 @@ clean-local:
 
 spellcheck spellcheck-interactive spellcheck-sortdict:
 	$(MAKE) -f $(top_builddir)/docs/Makefile SPELLCHECK_SRC="$(SPELLCHECK_SRC)" SPELLCHECK_DIR="$(srcdir)" $@
+
+
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = Makefile.in
+CLEANFILES = *.pdf *.html *-spellchecked
diff --git a/data/Makefile.am b/data/Makefile.am
index d5a694a182..23d7b8098c 100644
--- a/data/Makefile.am
+++ b/data/Makefile.am
@@ -6,9 +6,6 @@ dist_data_DATA = cmdvartab
 nodist_data_DATA = driver.list
 EXTRA_DIST = evolution500.seq epdu-managed.dev
 
-clean-local:
-	rm -f *.pdf *.html *-spellchecked
-
 # NOTE: Due to portability, we do not use a GNU percent-wildcard extension:
 #%-spellchecked: % Makefile.am $(top_srcdir)/docs/Makefile.am $(abs_srcdir)/$(NUT_SPELL_DICT)
 #	$(MAKE) -s -f $(top_builddir)/docs/Makefile SPELLCHECK_SRC_ONE="$<" SPELLCHECK_DIR="$(srcdir)" $@
@@ -18,3 +15,6 @@ cmdvartab-spellchecked: cmdvartab Makefile.am $(top_srcdir)/docs/Makefile.am $(a
 
 spellcheck spellcheck-interactive spellcheck-sortdict:
 	$(MAKE) -f $(top_builddir)/docs/Makefile SPELLCHECK_SRC="cmdvartab" SPELLCHECK_DIR="$(srcdir)" $@
+
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = Makefile.in
+CLEANFILES = *.pdf *.html *-spellchecked
diff --git a/data/html/Makefile.am b/data/html/Makefile.am
index 956e66b884..823f18a9bc 100644
--- a/data/html/Makefile.am
+++ b/data/html/Makefile.am
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
-# Network UPS Tools: data/html                                                  
+# Network UPS Tools: data/html
 # install these only if configured --with-cgi
 if WITH_CGI
  dist_html_DATA = index.html bottom.html nut-banner.png
  nodist_html_DATA = header.html
 endif
 EXTRA_DIST = README
+
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = Makefile.in
+# Generated by configure script:
+DISTCLEANFILES = header.html
diff --git a/docs/Makefile.am b/docs/Makefile.am
index a02c850f46..fe2032861e 100644
--- a/docs/Makefile.am
+++ b/docs/Makefile.am
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-DISTCLEANFILES =
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = Makefile.in
 EXTRA_DIST =
 
 # Is "egrep == grep -E" always valid? (maybe all a job for configure.ac)
@@ -136,8 +136,10 @@ check-man:
 man:
 	cd $(top_builddir)/docs/man/ && $(MAKE) -f Makefile all
 
+CLEANFILES = *.xml *.html *.pdf *-spellchecked docbook-xsl.css
+
+# Dirs to clean
 clean-local:
-	rm -f *.pdf *.html *-spellchecked docbook-xsl.css
 	rm -rf *.chunked *.bak tmp
 
 ### TODO: automatic dependency generation
@@ -368,7 +370,7 @@ $(abs_builddir)/$(NUT_SPELL_DICT).sorted: $(abs_srcdir)/$(NUT_SPELL_DICT)
 	    cp -f "$(abs_builddir)/$(NUT_SPELL_DICT).bak-pre-sorting" "$(abs_srcdir)/" || true ; \
 	 fi
 
-DISTCLEANFILES += $(NUT_SPELL_DICT).bak-pre-sorting .$(NUT_SPELL_DICT).sorted $(NUT_SPELL_DICT).sorted
+DISTCLEANFILES = $(NUT_SPELL_DICT).bak-pre-sorting .$(NUT_SPELL_DICT).sorted $(NUT_SPELL_DICT).sorted
 
 spellcheck-interactive: 
 	@FAILED="" ; for docsrc in $(SPELLCHECK_SRC); do \
diff --git a/docs/cables/Makefile.am b/docs/cables/Makefile.am
index 1431357241..ee269a84c4 100644
--- a/docs/cables/Makefile.am
+++ b/docs/cables/Makefile.am
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-clean-local:
-	rm -f *-spellchecked
+CLEANFILES = *-spellchecked
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = Makefile.in
diff --git a/docs/man/Makefile.am b/docs/man/Makefile.am
index 3a4e460ec2..43f326f468 100644
--- a/docs/man/Makefile.am
+++ b/docs/man/Makefile.am
@@ -790,7 +790,7 @@ check-man-txt: $(SRC_ALL_PAGES)
 	    echo "FAILED man-source sanity check for:$$FAILED" >&2 ; file $$FAILED >&2 ; exit 1; \
 	fi; echo "PASSED man-source sanity check (checked $$CHECKED files)"; exit 0
 
-CLEANFILES = *.xml *.html
+CLEANFILES = *-spellchecked
 
 SUFFIXES = .txt .html .1 .3 .5 .8
 
@@ -806,6 +806,8 @@ endif
 
 if HAVE_ASCIIDOC
 
+CLEANFILES += *.1 *.3 *.5 *.8 *.xml *.html *.pdf
+
 # Working around a2x not friendly to parallelized runs.
 # See more details in the main NUT docs/Makefile.am
 DOCBUILD_BEGIN = { \
@@ -931,11 +933,6 @@ else !HAVE_ASCIIDOC
 
 endif !HAVE_ASCIIDOC
 
-clean-local:
-	rm -f *.pdf *.html *-spellchecked
-	rm -f *.1 *.3 *.5 *.8
-	rm -rf tmp
-
 # NOTE: Due to portability, we do not use a GNU percent-wildcard extension:
 #%-spellchecked: % Makefile.am $(top_srcdir)/docs/Makefile.am $(abs_srcdir)/$(NUT_SPELL_DICT)
 #	$(MAKE) -s -f $(top_builddir)/docs/Makefile SPELLCHECK_SRC_ONE="$<" SPELLCHECK_DIR="$(srcdir)" $@
@@ -948,3 +945,8 @@ clean-local:
 
 spellcheck spellcheck-interactive spellcheck-sortdict:
 	$(MAKE) -f $(top_builddir)/docs/Makefile SPELLCHECK_SRC="$(SRC_ALL_PAGES)" SPELLCHECK_DIR="$(srcdir)" $@
+
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = Makefile.in
+
+clean-local:
+	rm -rf tmp
diff --git a/drivers/Makefile.am b/drivers/Makefile.am
index c4a045d959..3bebfc7562 100644
--- a/drivers/Makefile.am
+++ b/drivers/Makefile.am
@@ -54,7 +54,9 @@ MODBUS_DRIVERLIST = phoenixcontact_modbus generic_modbus
 LINUX_I2C_DRIVERLIST = asem pijuice
 
 # distribute all drivers, even ones that are not built by default
-EXTRA_PROGRAMS = $(SERIAL_DRIVERLIST) $(SNMP_DRIVERLIST) $(USB_DRIVERLIST) $(SERIAL_USB_DRIVERLIST) $(NEONXML_DRIVERLIST) $(MACOSX_DRIVERLIST)
+EXTRA_PROGRAMS  = $(SERIAL_DRIVERLIST) $(USB_DRIVERLIST) $(SERIAL_USB_DRIVERLIST)
+EXTRA_PROGRAMS += $(SNMP_DRIVERLIST) $(NEONXML_DRIVERLIST) $(MACOSX_DRIVERLIST)
+EXTRA_PROGRAMS += $(LINUX_I2C_DRIVERLIST)
 
 # construct the list of drivers to build
 if SOME_DRIVERS
@@ -325,3 +327,11 @@ libdummy_la_SOURCES = main.c dstate.c
 libdummy_la_LDFLAGS = -no-undefined -static
 libdummy_serial_la_SOURCES = serial.c
 libdummy_serial_la_LDFLAGS = -no-undefined -static
+
+CLEANFILES = $(EXTRA_LTLIBRARIES) $(EXTRA_PROGRAMS)
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = Makefile.in
+
+# NOTE: Do not clean ".deps" in SUBDIRS of the main project,
+# the root Makefile.am takes care of that!
+#clean-local:
+#	rm -rf $(builddir)/.deps
diff --git a/include/Makefile.am b/include/Makefile.am
index 59bbfcfc57..385e32eb61 100644
--- a/include/Makefile.am
+++ b/include/Makefile.am
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ dist_noinst_HEADERS = attribute.h common.h extstate.h parseconf.h proto.h	\
 # http://www.gnu.org/software/automake/manual/automake.html#Clean
 BUILT_SOURCES = nut_version.h
 CLEANFILES = nut_version.h
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = Makefile.in
 
 # magic to include Git version information in NUT version string
 # (for builds not made from the tagged commit in a Git workspace)
@@ -32,7 +33,7 @@ nut_version.h: FORCE
 FORCE:
 
 # counter part of BUILT_SOURCES: since nut_version is not a direct
-# deps of a local target, we must clean it by ourself before the
+# deps of a local target, we must clean it by ourselves before the
 # distribution
 dist-hook:
 	rm -f $(distdir)/nut_version.h
diff --git a/lib/Makefile.am b/lib/Makefile.am
index 856d0db728..8256a9ad6b 100644
--- a/lib/Makefile.am
+++ b/lib/Makefile.am
@@ -8,5 +8,5 @@ else
 endif
 endif
 
-clean-local:
-	rm -f *-spellchecked
+CLEANFILES = *-spellchecked
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = Makefile.in
diff --git a/scripts/Makefile.am b/scripts/Makefile.am
index 17b1dd28fb..bb076ece15 100644
--- a/scripts/Makefile.am
+++ b/scripts/Makefile.am
@@ -26,3 +26,5 @@ EXTRA_DIST = README \
     Windows/Makefile
 
 SUBDIRS = augeas devd hotplug python systemd udev ufw Solaris upsdrvsvcctl
+
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = Makefile.in
diff --git a/scripts/Solaris/Makefile.am b/scripts/Solaris/Makefile.am
index b9651ef114..5a76433188 100644
--- a/scripts/Solaris/Makefile.am
+++ b/scripts/Solaris/Makefile.am
@@ -84,3 +84,5 @@ check-local-solaris-smf: $(SOLARIS_SMF_MANIFESTS)
 	    echo "  SVCCFG-VALIDATE  $$F"; \
 	    /usr/sbin/svccfg validate "$$F" || RES=$$? ; \
 	 done; exit $$RES
+
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = Makefile.in
diff --git a/scripts/augeas/Makefile.am b/scripts/augeas/Makefile.am
index b9a6774df9..ae667f9c53 100644
--- a/scripts/augeas/Makefile.am
+++ b/scripts/augeas/Makefile.am
@@ -37,5 +37,13 @@ if WITH_AUGLENS
     nutnutconf.aug    nutupsdconf.aug  nutupsmonconf.aug  nutupssetconf.aug
 endif
 
-clean-local:
-	rm -f *-spellchecked
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = Makefile.in
+CLEANFILES = *-spellchecked
+
+# Can be re-generated by configure script and/or make:
+DISTCLEANFILES = gen-nutupsconf-aug.py
+
+# Generated by autogen.sh and needed to run the configure script:
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES += nutupsconf.aug.in
+
+DISTCLEANFILES += *.aug
diff --git a/scripts/devd/Makefile.am b/scripts/devd/Makefile.am
index e5a9bbcce9..f809a999b9 100644
--- a/scripts/devd/Makefile.am
+++ b/scripts/devd/Makefile.am
@@ -9,6 +9,16 @@ endif
 
 EXTRA_DIST = README
 
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = Makefile.in
+
+# Generated by configure script:
 DISTCLEANFILES = nut-usb.conf
+
 # we should never remove this one, apart from a distclean-check
 #MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = nut-usbups.rules.in
+
+# Generated by autogen.sh and needed to run the configure script
+# (technically, generated by tools/nut-usbinfo.pl script among
+# GENERATED_USB_OS_FILES):
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES += nut-usbups.rules.in
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES += nut-usb.conf.in
diff --git a/scripts/hotplug/Makefile.am b/scripts/hotplug/Makefile.am
index c36cd7dad1..9ba1d22f5f 100644
--- a/scripts/hotplug/Makefile.am
+++ b/scripts/hotplug/Makefile.am
@@ -6,6 +6,16 @@ if WITH_HOTPLUG
 endif
 
 EXTRA_DIST = README
+
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = Makefile.in
+
+# Generated by configure script:
 DISTCLEANFILES = libhidups
+
 # we should never remove this one, apart from a distclean-check
 #MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = libhid.usermap
+
+# Generated by autogen.sh and needed to run the configure script
+# (technically, generated by tools/nut-usbinfo.pl script among
+# GENERATED_USB_OS_FILES):
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES += libhid.usermap
diff --git a/scripts/python/Makefile.am b/scripts/python/Makefile.am
index 8ab6bf6ff0..ce23b825fb 100644
--- a/scripts/python/Makefile.am
+++ b/scripts/python/Makefile.am
@@ -20,3 +20,4 @@ EXTRA_DIST = README \
 			 module/PyNUT.py.in \
 			 module/test_nutclient.py.in
 
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = Makefile.in
diff --git a/scripts/systemd/Makefile.am b/scripts/systemd/Makefile.am
index dfd93959bd..594ee9de6c 100644
--- a/scripts/systemd/Makefile.am
+++ b/scripts/systemd/Makefile.am
@@ -31,3 +31,7 @@ EXTRA_DIST += \
 # NOTE: Do not EXTRA_DIST nut-common.tmpfiles.in - it is generated per build
 endif
 
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = Makefile.in
+
+# Generated by autogen.sh and needed to run the configure script:
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES += nut-common.tmpfiles.in
diff --git a/scripts/udev/Makefile.am b/scripts/udev/Makefile.am
index 1973ccf89b..5977f8eca2 100644
--- a/scripts/udev/Makefile.am
+++ b/scripts/udev/Makefile.am
@@ -18,7 +18,17 @@ EXTRA_DIST = README
 52-nut-ipmipsu.rules: nut-ipmipsu.rules
 	cp nut-ipmipsu.rules $@
 
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = Makefile.in
+
+# Generated by configure script:
 DISTCLEANFILES = nut-usbups.rules nut-ipmipsu.rules
+
 CLEANFILES = 62-nut-usbups.rules 52-nut-ipmipsu.rules
+
 # we should never remove this one, apart from a distclean-check
 #MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = nut-usbups.rules.in
+
+# Generated by autogen.sh and needed to run the configure script
+# (technically, generated by tools/nut-usbinfo.pl script among
+# GENERATED_USB_OS_FILES):
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES += nut-usbups.rules.in
diff --git a/scripts/ufw/Makefile.am b/scripts/ufw/Makefile.am
index 1431357241..7793f24713 100644
--- a/scripts/ufw/Makefile.am
+++ b/scripts/ufw/Makefile.am
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-clean-local:
-	rm -f *-spellchecked
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = Makefile.in
+CLEANFILES = *-spellchecked
diff --git a/scripts/upsdrvsvcctl/Makefile.am b/scripts/upsdrvsvcctl/Makefile.am
index 7d7a0f235e..2af566cfea 100644
--- a/scripts/upsdrvsvcctl/Makefile.am
+++ b/scripts/upsdrvsvcctl/Makefile.am
@@ -10,3 +10,4 @@ endif
 
 EXTRA_DIST += nut-driver-enumerator.sh.in upsdrvsvcctl.in
 
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = Makefile.in
diff --git a/server/Makefile.am b/server/Makefile.am
index 76f15e6c7a..0d1b933560 100644
--- a/server/Makefile.am
+++ b/server/Makefile.am
@@ -33,3 +33,10 @@ upsd_SOURCES = upsd.c user.c conf.c netssl.c sstate.c desc.c		\
  upstype.h user-data.h user.h
 
 sockdebug_SOURCES = sockdebug.c
+
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = Makefile.in
+
+# NOTE: Do not clean ".deps" in SUBDIRS of the main project,
+# the root Makefile.am takes care of that!
+#clean-local:
+#	rm -rf $(builddir)/.deps
diff --git a/tests/Makefile.am b/tests/Makefile.am
index dd2b60f11b..095b1d838d 100644
--- a/tests/Makefile.am
+++ b/tests/Makefile.am
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ all: $(TESTS)
 EXTRA_DIST = nut-driver-enumerator-test.sh nut-driver-enumerator-test--ups.conf
 
 TESTS = nutlogtest getvaluetest
+CLEANFILES = *.trs *.log
 
 AM_CFLAGS = -I$(top_srcdir)/include -I$(top_srcdir)/drivers
 AM_CXXFLAGS = -I$(top_srcdir)/include
@@ -14,7 +15,16 @@ check_PROGRAMS = $(TESTS)
 nutlogtest_SOURCES = nutlogtest.c
 nutlogtest_LDADD = $(top_builddir)/common/libcommon.la
 
-getvaluetest_SOURCES = getvaluetest.c $(top_srcdir)/drivers/hidparser.c
+# Separate the .deps of other dirs from this one
+LINKED_SOURCE_FILES = $(builddir)/hidparser.c
+
+# NOTE: Not using "$<" due to a legacy Sun/illumos dmake bug with resolver
+# of dynamic vars, see e.g. https://man.omnios.org/man1/make#BUGS
+$(builddir)/hidparser.c: $(top_srcdir)/drivers/hidparser.c
+	test -s "$@" || ln -s -f "$(top_srcdir)/drivers/hidparser.c" "$@"
+
+getvaluetest_SOURCES = getvaluetest.c
+nodist_getvaluetest_SOURCES = $(builddir)/hidparser.c
 getvaluetest_LDADD = $(top_builddir)/common/libcommon.la
 
 # Make sure out-of-dir dependencies exist (especially when dev-building parts):
@@ -27,12 +37,14 @@ CPPUNITTESTSRC = example.cpp nutclienttest.cpp
 # The test driver which orchestrates running those tests above
 CPPUNITTESTERSRC = cpputest.cpp
 
+TESTS_CXX11 = cppunittest
+
 if HAVE_CXX11
 if HAVE_CPPUNIT
 # Note: per configure script this "SHOULD" also assume
 # that we HAVE_CXX11 - but better have it explicit
 
-TESTS += cppunittest
+TESTS += $(TESTS_CXX11)
 
 if WITH_VALGRIND
 check-local: $(check_PROGRAMS)
@@ -65,3 +77,13 @@ else !HAVE_CXX11
 EXTRA_DIST += example.cpp cpputest.cpp
 
 endif !HAVE_CXX11
+
+BUILT_SOURCES = $(LINKED_SOURCE_FILES)
+CLEANFILES += $(LINKED_SOURCE_FILES)
+CLEANFILES += $(TESTS) $(TESTS_CXX11)
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = Makefile.in
+
+# NOTE: Do not clean ".deps" in SUBDIRS of the main project,
+# the root Makefile.am takes care of that!
+#clean-local:
+#	rm -rf $(builddir)/.deps
diff --git a/tools/Makefile.am b/tools/Makefile.am
index 17c2252f1e..5a2bb7fc67 100644
--- a/tools/Makefile.am
+++ b/tools/Makefile.am
@@ -32,6 +32,10 @@ GENERATED_USB_OS_FILES += ../scripts/devd/nut-usb.conf.in
 # UPower output file
 GENERATED_USB_OS_FILES += ../scripts/upower/95-upower-hid.rules
 
+CLEANFILES = $(GENERATED_SNMP_FILES) $(GENERATED_USB_FILES)
+# We do not clean away these files, some are even tracked in Git:
+#CLEANFILES += $(GENERATED_USB_OS_FILES)
+
 all: nut-scanner-deps $(GENERATED_USB_OS_FILES)
 
 # This target is called from the making of nut-scanner to ensure its bits
@@ -105,4 +109,11 @@ dist-hook:
 
 	@$(distdir)/driver-list-format.sh;
 
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = Makefile.in
+
+# Can be recreated by `make` or `configure`,
+# impacted by choice of PYTHON version:
+DISTCLEANFILES = gitlog2changelog.py
+DISTCLEANFILES += nut-snmpinfo.py
+
 .PHONY: nut-scanner-deps nut-scanner-snmp-deps nut-scanner-usb-deps
diff --git a/tools/nut-scanner/Makefile.am b/tools/nut-scanner/Makefile.am
index 680703eb85..938ad32cf3 100644
--- a/tools/nut-scanner/Makefile.am
+++ b/tools/nut-scanner/Makefile.am
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ NUT_SCANNER_DEPS_C =
 NUT_SCANNER_DEPS = $(NUT_SCANNER_DEPS_H) $(NUT_SCANNER_DEPS_C)
 
 BUILT_SOURCES = $(NUT_SCANNER_DEPS)
+CLEANFILES = $(BUILT_SOURCES)
 
 # Make sure we have the freshest files (no-op if built earlier and then
 # no driver sources and other dependencies were edited by a developer)
@@ -21,7 +22,31 @@ $(top_builddir)/common/libcommon.la:
 # 'dist', and is only required for actual build, in which case
 # BUILT_SOURCES (in ../include) will ensure nut_version.h will
 # be built before anything else
-$(top_srcdir)/common/common.c nut-scanner.c: $(top_builddir)/include/nut_version.h
+common.c nut-scanner.c: $(top_builddir)/include/nut_version.h
+
+LINKED_SOURCE_FILES =
+
+# Separate the .deps of other dirs from this one
+# NOTE: Not using "$<" due to a legacy Sun/illumos dmake bug with resolver
+# of dynamic vars, see e.g. https://man.omnios.org/man1/make#BUGS
+LINKED_SOURCE_FILES += $(builddir)/serial.c
+$(builddir)/serial.c: $(top_srcdir)/drivers/serial.c
+	test -s "$@" || ln -s -f "$(top_srcdir)/drivers/serial.c" "$@"
+
+LINKED_SOURCE_FILES += $(builddir)/bcmxcp_ser.c
+$(builddir)/bcmxcp_ser.c: $(top_srcdir)/drivers/bcmxcp_ser.c
+	test -s "$@" || ln -s -f "$(top_srcdir)/drivers/bcmxcp_ser.c" "$@"
+
+LINKED_SOURCE_FILES += $(builddir)/common.c
+$(builddir)/common.c: $(top_srcdir)/common/common.c
+	test -s "$@" || ln -s -f "$(top_srcdir)/common/common.c" "$@"
+
+LINKED_SOURCE_FILES += $(builddir)/str.c
+$(builddir)/str.c: $(top_srcdir)/common/str.c
+	test -s "$@" || ln -s -f "$(top_srcdir)/common/str.c" "$@"
+
+CLEANFILES += $(LINKED_SOURCE_FILES)
+BUILT_SOURCES += $(LINKED_SOURCE_FILES)
 
 $(top_builddir)/include/nut_version.h:
 	@cd $(@D) && $(MAKE) -s $(@F)
@@ -34,10 +59,8 @@ endif
 libnutscan_la_SOURCES = scan_nut.c scan_ipmi.c \
 			nutscan-device.c nutscan-ip.c nutscan-display.c \
 			nutscan-init.c scan_usb.c scan_snmp.c scan_xml_http.c \
-			scan_avahi.c scan_eaton_serial.c nutscan-serial.c \
-			$(top_srcdir)/drivers/serial.c \
-			$(top_srcdir)/drivers/bcmxcp_ser.c \
-			$(top_srcdir)/common/common.c $(top_srcdir)/common/str.c
+			scan_avahi.c scan_eaton_serial.c nutscan-serial.c
+nodist_libnutscan_la_SOURCES = $(LINKED_SOURCE_FILES)
 libnutscan_la_LIBADD = $(NETLIBS) $(LIBLTDL_LIBS)
 #
 # Below we set API versions of public libraries
@@ -82,7 +105,10 @@ else
  dist_noinst_HEADERS += nut-scan.h nutscan-device.h nutscan-ip.h nutscan-init.h nutscan-serial.h
 endif
 
-CLEANFILES = $(BUILT_SOURCES)
+CLEANFILES += *-spellchecked
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = Makefile.in
 
-clean-local:
-	rm -f *-spellchecked
+# NOTE: Do not clean ".deps" in SUBDIRS of the main project,
+# the root Makefile.am takes care of that!
+#clean-local:
+#	rm -rf $(builddir)/.deps