diff --git a/data/Makefile.in b/data/Makefile.in
index 4348ba85..bcfd3736 100644
--- a/data/Makefile.in
+++ b/data/Makefile.in
@@ -62,11 +62,10 @@ DEV_CUOBJ       += $(addprefix $(OBJ_DIR)/,$(notdir $(CUSOURCE:%.cpp=%_cu_dev.o)
 VPATH           += $(dir $(CUSOURCE))
 
 NVCC_BIN        := nvcc
-NVCC            := $(shell which $(NVCC_BIN))
-CUDA_DIR        := $(dir $(NVCC))/..
-
 HAS_CUDA        := $(shell command -v $(NVCC_BIN) 2> /dev/null)
 ifdef HAS_CUDA
+NVCC            := $(shell which $(NVCC_BIN) 2>/dev/null)
+CUDA_DIR        := $(dir $(NVCC))/..
 NVCC_CFLAGS     += --std=c++11
 NVCC_CFLAGS     += -ccbin=g++
 NVCC_CFLAGS     += $(DEVCAP)
@@ -134,7 +133,8 @@ INTEL           := icpc
 GCC             := g++
 
 ifndef CUDA_ONLY
-COMPILERS       := $(foreach c, GCC INTEL CLANG, $(if $(shell which $($(c))), $c,))
+COMPILERS       := $(foreach c, GCC INTEL CLANG, \
+                       $(if $(shell which $($(c)) 2>/dev/null), $c,))
 endif
 
 ifdef CLANG_ONLY
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ RESULTS_DIR     := results
 
 # on systems with non-standard gcc installations (such as module), clang may
 # be unable to determine the correct gcc toolchain
-GCC_TOOLCHAIN   := $(dir $(shell which $(GCC)))/..
+GCC_TOOLCHAIN   := $(dir $(shell which $(GCC) 2>/dev/null))/..
 CLANG_REQUIRED  := --gcc-toolchain=$(GCC_TOOLCHAIN)
 
 # Compiler setting targets
@@ -363,7 +363,7 @@ $(OBJ_DIR)/%_$(R_ID).o: %.cpp Makefile custom.mk | $(OBJ_DIR)
 	  -DFLIT_FILENAME='"$(R_ID)"'
 
 # Otherwise, we're not in a recursion.
-else
+else # ifndef R_IS_RECURSED
 
 $(OBJ_DIR):
 	mkdir -p $(OBJ_DIR)
@@ -387,7 +387,11 @@ TARGETS         += $$(RESULTS_DIR)/$(strip $1)_$$(HOSTNAME)_$(strip $3)_$(strip
 # TODO: use the variable $$(MAKECMDGOALS) to get the original make target
 #       or see if it is even necessary
 
-$$(RESULTS_DIR)/$(strip $1)_$$(HOSTNAME)_$(strip $3)_$(strip $2): | $$(OBJ_DIR) $$(RESULTS_DIR)
+# Make the recursive target depend on $$(GT_TARGET), not because it actually
+# depends on that target, but we know that when $$(GT_TARGET) needs to be
+# rebuilt, so does each recursive target.
+
+$$(RESULTS_DIR)/$(strip $1)_$$(HOSTNAME)_$(strip $3)_$(strip $2): $$(GT_TARGET) | $$(OBJ_DIR) $$(RESULTS_DIR)
 	-$$(MAKE) rec \
 	  R_IS_RECURSED=True \
 	  R_CUR_COMPILER=$(strip $1) \
@@ -484,6 +488,10 @@ $(TARGETS): $(FLIT_LIB_DIR)/libflit.so
 $(CUTARGETS): $(FLIT_LIB_DIR)/libflit.so
 endif # ifeq ($(UNAME_S),Darwin): meaning, we are on a mac
 
+# include the build dependencies for gt and dev
+
+-include $(GT_DEPS)
+-include $(DEV_DEPS)
 
 #
 # Now for the compilation rules:
diff --git a/tests/flit_makefile/tst_empty_project.py b/tests/flit_makefile/tst_empty_project.py
index e53f16cc..05267d89 100644
--- a/tests/flit_makefile/tst_empty_project.py
+++ b/tests/flit_makefile/tst_empty_project.py
@@ -50,6 +50,8 @@
 
 Let's actually now compile and run the empty test under different circumstances
 
+TODO: this takes too long to run.  Can we do something faster?
+
 >>> import subprocess as subp
 >>> with th.tempdir() as temp_dir:
 ...     th.flit.main(['init', '-C', temp_dir]) # doctest:+ELLIPSIS
diff --git a/tests/flit_makefile/tst_incremental_build.py b/tests/flit_makefile/tst_incremental_build.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..46524ab2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/flit_makefile/tst_incremental_build.py
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+'''
+Tests FLiT's generated Makefile and its ability to correctly do incremental
+builds.
+
+The tests are below using doctest
+
+>>> import glob
+>>> import os
+>>> import subprocess as subp
+>>> import re
+>>> import time
+
+Test that the dev target will be rebuilt if one of the files is updated.
+We use 'make --touch' to simply touch files it would create and then we will
+test that the correct files are updated.
+>>> def compile_target(directory, target):
+...     'Compiles the dev target using "make --touch" and returns the output'
+...     output = subp.check_output(['make', '-C', directory, '--touch', target])
+...     return output.decode('utf-8').strip()
+>>> compile_dev = lambda x: compile_target(x, 'dev')
+>>> with th.tempdir() as temp_dir:
+...     th.flit.main(['init', '-C', temp_dir]) # doctest:+ELLIPSIS
+...     # fake the built elements -- don't actually build for time's sake
+...     os.mkdir(os.path.join(temp_dir, 'obj'))
+...     before_build = compile_dev(temp_dir)
+...     # this next build should say nothing to do
+...     after_build = compile_dev(temp_dir)
+...     # update one file and recompile
+...     with open(os.path.join(temp_dir, 'main.cpp'), 'a') as mainfile:
+...         mainfile.write('#include "new_header.h"\\n')
+...     with open(os.path.join(temp_dir, 'obj', 'main_dev.d'), 'w') as maindep:
+...         maindep.write('obj/main_dev.o: main.cpp new_header.h\\n')
+...     th.touch(os.path.join(temp_dir, 'new_header.h'))
+...     after_modify = compile_dev(temp_dir)
+...     # touch the header file and make sure it recompiles again
+...     time.sleep(0.001) # give some time before touching again
+...     th.touch(os.path.join(temp_dir, 'new_header.h'))
+...     after_touch = compile_dev(temp_dir)
+Creating ...
+
+>>> def touched_files(outstring):
+...     'Returns list of touched files in sorted order'
+...     return sorted([x[6:] for x in outstring.splitlines()
+...                    if x.startswith('touch ')])
+
+Make sure all of the correct files were created with our build commands
+
+>>> touched_files(before_build)
+['devrun', 'obj/Empty_dev.o', 'obj/main_dev.o']
+
+>>> touched_files(after_build)
+[]
+
+>>> touched_files(after_modify)
+['devrun', 'obj/main_dev.o']
+
+>>> touched_files(after_touch)
+['devrun', 'obj/main_dev.o']
+
+Now, let's test the same thing with the "gt" target
+
+>>> compile_gt = lambda x: compile_target(x, 'gt')
+>>> with th.tempdir() as temp_dir:
+...     th.flit.main(['init', '-C', temp_dir]) # doctest:+ELLIPSIS
+...     # fake the built elements -- don't actually build for time's sake
+...     os.mkdir(os.path.join(temp_dir, 'obj'))
+...     before_build = compile_gt(temp_dir)
+...     # this next build should say nothing to do
+...     after_build = compile_gt(temp_dir)
+...     # update one file and recompile
+...     with open(os.path.join(temp_dir, 'main.cpp'), 'a') as mainfile:
+...         mainfile.write('#include "new_header.h"\\n')
+...     with open(os.path.join(temp_dir, 'obj', 'main_gt.d'), 'w') as maindep:
+...         maindep.write('obj/main_gt.o: main.cpp new_header.h\\n')
+...     th.touch(os.path.join(temp_dir, 'new_header.h'))
+...     after_modify = compile_gt(temp_dir)
+...     # touch the header file and make sure it recompiles again
+...     time.sleep(0.001) # give some time before touching again
+...     th.touch(os.path.join(temp_dir, 'new_header.h'))
+...     after_touch = compile_gt(temp_dir)
+Creating ...
+
+Make sure all of the correct files were created with our build commands
+
+>>> touched_files(before_build)
+['gtrun', 'obj/Empty_gt.o', 'obj/main_gt.o']
+
+>>> touched_files(after_build)
+[]
+
+>>> touched_files(after_modify)
+['gtrun', 'obj/main_gt.o']
+
+>>> touched_files(after_touch)
+['gtrun', 'obj/main_gt.o']
+'''
+
+# Test setup before the docstring is run.
+import sys
+before_path = sys.path[:]
+sys.path.append('..')
+import test_harness as th
+sys.path = before_path
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    import doctest
+    doctest.testmod()
diff --git a/tests/test_harness.py b/tests/test_harness.py
index b5cb7983..a0036516 100644
--- a/tests/test_harness.py
+++ b/tests/test_harness.py
@@ -112,6 +112,14 @@ def tempdir(*args, **kwargs):
     yield new_dir
     shutil.rmtree(new_dir)
 
+def touch(filename):
+    '''
+    Create an emtpy file if it does not exist, otherwise updates the
+    modification time.
+    '''
+    from pathlib import Path
+    Path(filename).touch()
+
 flit = _path_import(_script_dir, 'flit')
 config = _path_import(_script_dir, 'flitconfig')