--- old/make/linux/makefiles/vm.make	2015-02-18 18:53:41.608042071 -0500
+++ new/make/linux/makefiles/vm.make	2015-02-18 18:53:40.663988610 -0500
@@ -45,8 +45,9 @@
 ifeq ($(findstring true, $(JVM_VARIANT_ZERO) $(JVM_VARIANT_ZEROSHARK)), true)
   include $(MAKEFILES_DIR)/zeroshark.make
 else
-  include $(MAKEFILES_DIR)/$(BUILDARCH).make
-  -include $(HS_ALT_MAKE)/$(Platform_os_family)/makefiles/$(BUILDARCH).make
+  BUILDARCH_MAKE = $(MAKEFILES_DIR)/$(BUILDARCH).make
+  ALT_BUILDARCH_MAKE = $(HS_ALT_MAKE)/$(Platform_os_family)/makefiles/$(BUILDARCH).make
+  include $(if $(wildcard $(ALT_BUILDARCH_MAKE)),$(ALT_BUILDARCH_MAKE),$(BUILDARCH_MAKE))
 endif
 
 # set VPATH so make knows where to look for source files