diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ba077a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+bin
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 265a7c4..57166f7 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,15 +1,18 @@
 # Top level makefile to build the utilities etc,
 AS= tools/as7
+BIN=bin
 
 all: utilities
 
 utilities:
-	$(AS) -o bin/cat   src/cmd/cat.s
-	$(AS) -o bin/cp    src/cmd/cp.s
-	$(AS) -o bin/chmod src/cmd/chmod.s
-	$(AS) -o bin/chown src/cmd/chown.s
-	$(AS) -o bin/chrm  src/cmd/chrm.s
-	$(AS) -o bin/ls  src/other/wktls.s
+	mkdir $(BIN)
+	$(AS) -o $(BIN)/cat   src/cmd/cat.s
+	$(AS) -o $(BIN)/cp    src/cmd/cp.s
+	$(AS) -o $(BIN)/chmod src/cmd/chmod.s
+	$(AS) -o $(BIN)/chown src/cmd/chown.s
+	$(AS) -o $(BIN)/chrm  src/cmd/chrm.s
+	$(AS) -o $(BIN)/ls  src/other/wktls.s
 
 clean:
-	rm -f bin/*
+	rm -f $(BIN)/*
+	rmdir $(BIN)