diff --git a/gyp/pylib/gyp/generator/make.py b/gyp/pylib/gyp/generator/make.py
index a7639ad6e2..48d0f55a02 100644
--- a/gyp/pylib/gyp/generator/make.py
+++ b/gyp/pylib/gyp/generator/make.py
@@ -1776,7 +1776,8 @@ def WriteMakeRule(self, outputs, inputs, actions=None, comment=None,
       # - The multi-output rule will have an do-nothing recipe.
 
       # Hash the target name to avoid generating overlong filenames.
-      cmddigest = hashlib.sha1(command.encode('utf-8') if command else self.target.encode('utf-8')).hexdigest()
+
+      cmddigest = hashlib.sha1((command or self.target).encode('utf-8')).hexdigest()
       intermediate = "%s.intermediate" % cmddigest
       self.WriteLn('%s: %s' % (' '.join(outputs), intermediate))
       self.WriteLn('\t%s' % '@:')