diff --git a/dev-util/gperf/gperf-3.0.4.recipe b/dev-util/gperf/gperf-3.0.4.recipe
index de1f99d51..309ff1491 100644
--- a/dev-util/gperf/gperf-3.0.4.recipe
+++ b/dev-util/gperf/gperf-3.0.4.recipe
@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@ BUILD_PREREQUIRES="
 
 BUILD()
 {
+	# touch documentation to avoid attempts at rebuilding it (which will fail)
+	touch doc/*.{pdf,ps}
+
 	runConfigure ./configure
 	make $jobArgs
 }