diff --git a/INSTALL-LINUX b/INSTALL-LINUX
index a5347dc2b..267c0c1f6 100644
--- a/INSTALL-LINUX
+++ b/INSTALL-LINUX
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ Save and exit
 $ cd ..
 
 BUILD WITH BASIC CONFIGURATION
-$ qmake
+$ qmake -recursive
 $ make
 
 Congratulations you have now build a basic GoldenCheetah and can run this safely. See below for
diff --git a/INSTALL-MAC b/INSTALL-MAC
index 279b8af61..b466ab764 100644
--- a/INSTALL-MAC
+++ b/INSTALL-MAC
@@ -207,13 +207,14 @@ And comment out line 320 (or thereabouts):
 
 Once this is done you can kick off the build:
 
-$ qmake
+$ cd .. #this should put you in the top level dir containing this file
+$ qmake -recursive
 $ make
 
 If make fails to find a Makefile then qmake is configured, by default, to create
 an xcode project file. You will need to change the qmake command above to tell it
 to create a makefile with the following:
-$ qmake -spec macx-g++
+$ qmake -spec macx-g++ -recursive
 $ make
 
 Once this completes you will have a GoldenCheetah.app in the src directory which
diff --git a/INSTALL-WIN32 b/INSTALL-WIN32
index 5c3e738f0..3eafa192d 100644
--- a/INSTALL-WIN32
+++ b/INSTALL-WIN32
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ Copy D:\Coding\GoldenCheetah\qwt\qwtconfig.pri.in
 Using the “Qt Command Prompt” window from before:
 
 cd d:\coding\GoldenCheetah
-qmake -win32
+qmake -win32 -recursive
 mingw32-make release
 
 Go back to checking your email or favourite web sites while this builds.