diff --git a/doc/Makefile.am b/doc/Makefile.am
index c8fd05e..3fbd0ed 100644
--- a/doc/Makefile.am
+++ b/doc/Makefile.am
@@ -9,8 +9,17 @@ clean-local:
 
 .PHONY: doxygen
 
-doc_src= $(shell find . -name "html" -printf "%P\n")
+doc_src= $(shell find html -name "*" -printf "html/%P\n")
 EXTRA_DIST = $(doc_src) libevdev.doxygen libevdev.css
 endif
 
 dist_noinst_DATA = libevdev.doxygen.in
+
+# make sure doc was built before running dist
+dist-hook:
+	@test -f $(distdir)/html/index.html || (\
+		echo "******************************************************" && \
+		echo "Couldn't find documentation files, refusing make dist." && \
+		echo "Install doxygen to build documentation for tarball." && \
+		echo "******************************************************" && \
+		test )