diff --git a/dpdkbuild/Makefile b/dpdkbuild/Makefile
index 8dddb8074..8749bddfe 100644
--- a/dpdkbuild/Makefile
+++ b/dpdkbuild/Makefile
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ endif
 
 ifeq ($(CONFIG_REDUCE),y)
 DPDK_OPTS += CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_PMD_ISAL=y
-DPDK_CFLAGS += -I$(ISAL_DIR)/..
+DPDK_CFLAGS += -I$(ISAL_DIR)
 else
 DPDK_OPTS += CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_PMD_ISAL=n
 endif
diff --git a/isalbuild/Makefile b/isalbuild/Makefile
index 3fc8171bb..e5a757151 100644
--- a/isalbuild/Makefile
+++ b/isalbuild/Makefile
@@ -40,10 +40,14 @@ ifneq ($(Q),)
 REDIRECT=> /dev/null
 endif
 
-all:
+$(ISAL_DIR)/isa-l:
+	@ln -s $(ISAL_DIR)/include $(ISAL_DIR)/isa-l
+
+all: $(ISAL_DIR)/isa-l
 	$(Q)$(MAKE) -C $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/isa-l -j$(NPROC) all CC=cc $(REDIRECT)
 
 install: all
 
 clean:
 	$(Q)$(MAKE) -C $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/isa-l clean $(REDIRECT)
+	$(Q)rm -f $(ISAL_DIR)/isa-l