diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 5e0d6094..143117fa 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -88,25 +88,23 @@ build_dev_test: build_test2json build_gotestsum
 	tar czfv device-tests.tar.gz -C $(BIN_DIR)/tests .
 
 frontend:
-	@if [ "$(SKIP_UI_BUILD)" = "1" ]; then \
+	@if [ "$(SKIP_UI_BUILD)" = "1" ] && [ -f "static/index.html" ]; then \
 		echo "Skipping frontend build..."; \
 	else \
-	cd ui && npm ci && npm run build:device && \
-	find ../static/ \
-		-type f \
-		\( -name '*.js' \
-		-o -name '*.css' \
-		-o -name '*.html' \
-		-o -name '*.ico' \
-		-o -name '*.png' \
-		-o -name '*.jpg' \
-		-o -name '*.jpeg' \
-		-o -name '*.gif' \
-		-o -name '*.svg' \
-		-o -name '*.webp' \
-		-o -name '*.woff2' \
-			\) \
-			-exec sh -c 'gzip -9 -kfv {}' \; \
+		cd ui && npm ci && npm run build:device && \
+		find ../static/ -type f \
+			\( -name '*.js' \
+			-o -name '*.css' \
+			-o -name '*.html' \
+			-o -name '*.ico' \
+			-o -name '*.png' \
+			-o -name '*.jpg' \
+			-o -name '*.jpeg' \
+			-o -name '*.gif' \
+			-o -name '*.svg' \
+			-o -name '*.webp' \
+			-o -name '*.woff2' \
+			\) -exec sh -c 'gzip -9 -kfv {}' \; ;\
 	fi
 
 dev_release: frontend build_dev