diff --git a/scripts/makefile_helper b/scripts/makefile_helper
index 019a2b9d6c..e4be313ab9 100755
--- a/scripts/makefile_helper
+++ b/scripts/makefile_helper
@@ -19,9 +19,11 @@ fi
 # task handling
 case $1 in
   --clean)
+    chmod -R u+rwX "${BUILD_ROOT}/${BUILD_BASE}."* 2>/dev/null
     rm -rf "${BUILD_ROOT}/${BUILD_BASE}."*/* "${BUILD_ROOT}/${BUILD_BASE}."*/.stamps
     ;;
   --distclean)
+    chmod -R u+rwX "${BUILD_ROOT}/${BUILD_BASE}."* 2>/dev/null
     rm -rf "${BUILD_ROOT}/.ccache" "${BUILD_ROOT}/${BUILD_BASE}."*
     ;;
   *)