diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 72ccaddaceb4f5..922ef6733e6816 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -104,6 +104,8 @@ deps/npm/node_modules/.bin/
 
 # test artifacts
 tools/faketime
+tools/remark-cli
+tools/remark-preset-lint-node
 icu_config.gypi
 *.tap
 
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 52fa2ee6d69871..051b1e278420f9 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -945,7 +945,13 @@ bench: bench-net bench-http bench-fs bench-tls
 
 bench-ci: bench
 
-lint-md:
+lint-md-build:
+	if [ ! -d tools/remark-cli/node_modules ]; then \
+		cd tools/remark-cli && ../../$(NODE) ../../$(NPM) install; fi
+	if [ ! -d tools/remark-preset-lint-node/node_modules ]; then \
+		cd tools/remark-preset-lint-node && ../../$(NODE) ../../$(NPM) install; fi
+
+lint-md: lint-md-build
 	@echo "Running Markdown linter..."
 	$(NODE) tools/remark-cli/cli.js -q -f \
 		./*.md doc src lib benchmark tools/doc/ tools/icu/