diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 8a59187c..d218211b 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -191,6 +191,9 @@ dist/$(PACKAGE_NAME)-$(PACKAGE_VERSION)-docs-html.zip: docs-html
 	python -m zipfile -c dist/$(PACKAGE_NAME)-$(PACKAGE_VERSION)-docs-html.zip docs/_build/html/
 dist/$(PACKAGE_NAME)-$(PACKAGE_VERSION)-docs-md.zip: docs-md
 	python -m zipfile -c dist/$(PACKAGE_NAME)-$(PACKAGE_VERSION)-docs-md.zip docs/_build/markdown/
+
+# Keep this goal phony to ensure the epoch is always updated.
+.PHONY: dist/$(PACKAGE_NAME)-$(PACKAGE_VERSION)-build-epoch.txt
 dist/$(PACKAGE_NAME)-$(PACKAGE_VERSION)-build-epoch.txt:
 	echo $(SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH) > dist/$(PACKAGE_NAME)-$(PACKAGE_VERSION)-build-epoch.txt