diff --git a/tests/robustness/makefile.mk b/tests/robustness/makefile.mk
index 44f25af5dc68..cf6c9bc192eb 100644
--- a/tests/robustness/makefile.mk
+++ b/tests/robustness/makefile.mk
@@ -40,7 +40,8 @@ test-robustness-issue15271: /tmp/etcd-v3.5.7-failpoints/bin
 GOFAIL_VERSION = $(shell cd tools/mod && go list -m -f {{.Version}} go.etcd.io/gofail)
 
 .PHONY: gofail-enable
-gofail-enable: install-gofail
+gofail-enable:
+	$(MAKE) install-gofail
 	gofail enable server/etcdserver/ server/lease/leasehttp server/storage/backend/ server/storage/mvcc/ server/storage/wal/ server/etcdserver/api/v3rpc/
 	cd ./server && go get go.etcd.io/gofail@${GOFAIL_VERSION}
 	cd ./etcdutl && go get go.etcd.io/gofail@${GOFAIL_VERSION}
@@ -48,7 +49,8 @@ gofail-enable: install-gofail
 	cd ./tests && go get go.etcd.io/gofail@${GOFAIL_VERSION}
 
 .PHONY: gofail-disable
-gofail-disable: install-gofail
+gofail-disable:
+	$(MAKE) install-gofail
 	gofail disable server/etcdserver/ server/lease/leasehttp server/storage/backend/ server/storage/mvcc/ server/storage/wal/ server/etcdserver/api/v3rpc/
 	cd ./server && go mod tidy
 	cd ./etcdutl && go mod tidy
@@ -61,7 +63,8 @@ install-gofail:
 
 # Build previous releases for robustness tests
 
-/tmp/etcd-v3.6.0-failpoints/bin: install-gofail
+/tmp/etcd-v3.6.0-failpoints/bin:
+	$(MAKE) install-gofail
 	rm -rf /tmp/etcd-v3.6.0-failpoints/
 	mkdir -p /tmp/etcd-v3.6.0-failpoints/
 	cd /tmp/etcd-v3.6.0-failpoints/; \
@@ -72,7 +75,8 @@ install-gofail:
 /tmp/etcd-v3.5.2-failpoints/bin:
 /tmp/etcd-v3.5.4-failpoints/bin:
 /tmp/etcd-v3.5.5-failpoints/bin:
-/tmp/etcd-v3.5.%-failpoints/bin: install-gofail
+/tmp/etcd-v3.5.%-failpoints/bin:
+	$(MAKE) install-gofail
 	rm -rf /tmp/etcd-v3.5.$*-failpoints/
 	mkdir -p /tmp/etcd-v3.5.$*-failpoints/
 	cd /tmp/etcd-v3.5.$*-failpoints/; \
@@ -83,7 +87,8 @@ install-gofail:
 	  (cd etcdutl; go get go.etcd.io/gofail@${GOFAIL_VERSION}); \
 	  FAILPOINTS=true ./build;
 
-/tmp/etcd-release-3.5-failpoints/bin: install-gofail
+/tmp/etcd-release-3.5-failpoints/bin:
+	$(MAKE) install-gofail
 	rm -rf /tmp/etcd-release-3.5-failpoints/
 	mkdir -p /tmp/etcd-release-3.5-failpoints/
 	cd /tmp/etcd-release-3.5-failpoints/; \
@@ -95,7 +100,8 @@ install-gofail:
 	  FAILPOINTS=true ./build;
 
 /tmp/etcd-v3.4.23-failpoints/bin:
-/tmp/etcd-v3.4.%-failpoints/bin: install-gofail
+/tmp/etcd-v3.4.%-failpoints/bin:
+	$(MAKE) install-gofail
 	rm -rf /tmp/etcd-v3.4.$*-failpoints/
 	mkdir -p /tmp/etcd-v3.4.$*-failpoints/
 	cd /tmp/etcd-v3.4.$*-failpoints/; \
@@ -103,7 +109,8 @@ install-gofail:
 	  go get go.etcd.io/gofail@${GOFAIL_VERSION}; \
 	  FAILPOINTS=true ./build;
 
-/tmp/etcd-release-3.4-failpoints/bin: install-gofail
+/tmp/etcd-release-3.4-failpoints/bin:
+	$(MAKE) install-gofail
 	rm -rf /tmp/etcd-release-3.4-failpoints/
 	mkdir -p /tmp/etcd-release-3.4-failpoints/
 	cd /tmp/etcd-release-3.4-failpoints/; \