diff --git a/tools/Makefile b/tools/Makefile
index a06074b3..8146f120 100644
--- a/tools/Makefile
+++ b/tools/Makefile
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ CC ?= gcc        # used for sph2pipe
 # CXX = clang++  # Uncomment these lines...
 # CC = clang     # ...to build with Clang.
 
-$(WGET) ?= wget --no-check-certificate
+WGET ?= wget --no-check-certificate
 
 .PHONY: all clean