diff --git a/test/cpp_headers/Makefile b/test/cpp_headers/Makefile
index cd159bb58..0b8d3bd05 100644
--- a/test/cpp_headers/Makefile
+++ b/test/cpp_headers/Makefile
@@ -33,11 +33,12 @@
 
 SPDK_ROOT_DIR := $(abspath $(CURDIR)/../..)
 include $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/mk/spdk.common.mk
-include $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/mk/spdk.app.mk
 
 HEADERS := $(wildcard $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/include/spdk/*.h)
 CXX_SRCS := $(patsubst %.h,%.cpp,$(notdir $(HEADERS)))
 
+install : all
+
 %.cpp: $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/include/spdk/%.h
 	$(Q)echo "  TEST_HEADER include/spdk/$(notdir $<)"; \
 	echo '#include "spdk/$(notdir $<)"' > $@