diff --git a/doc/Makefile.am b/doc/Makefile.am
index 7e72e11..3b135dd 100644
--- a/doc/Makefile.am
+++ b/doc/Makefile.am
@@ -18,3 +18,10 @@
 	@echo "*** Warning: Doxygen not found; API documentation will not be built."
 	touch $@
 endif
+
+# delete doxygen subdirs
+clean-local:
+	-rm -rf html
+	-rm -rf latex
+	-rm -rf man
+	-rm doxygen-build.stamp