diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 2fb0a651e..1cdc1ba81 100755
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 /zerotier-*
 /build-ZeroTierUI-*
 /ZeroTierUI/*.user
-/Makefile
 *.o
 .DS_Store
 .Apple*
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ac50884cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+# Common makefile -- loads make rules for each platform
+
+OSTYPE=$(shell uname -s)
+
+ifeq ($(OSTYPE),Darwin)
+	include make-mac.mk
+endif
+
+ifeq ($(OSTYPE),Linux)
+	include make-linux.mk
+endif
diff --git a/Makefile.linux b/make-linux.mk
similarity index 100%
rename from Makefile.linux
rename to make-linux.mk
diff --git a/Makefile.mac b/make-mac.mk
similarity index 100%
rename from Makefile.mac
rename to make-mac.mk