diff --git a/Makefile.common b/Makefile.common
index 4f75c122b5..4a2e25a79d 100644
--- a/Makefile.common
+++ b/Makefile.common
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ GO           ?= go
 GOFMT        ?= $(GO)fmt
 FIRST_GOPATH := $(firstword $(subst :, ,$(shell $(GO) env GOPATH)))
 ifeq ($(BUILD_PROMU),false)
-	PROMU        := promu
+	PROMU        := $(shell which promu)
 else
 	PROMU        := $(FIRST_GOPATH)/bin/promu
 endif
@@ -199,11 +199,15 @@ common-docker-tag-latest:
 promu: $(PROMU)
 
 $(PROMU):
+ifeq ($(BUILD_PROMU),false)
+	@echo "using installed promu: $(PROMU)"
+else
 	$(eval PROMU_TMP := $(shell mktemp -d))
 	curl -s -L $(PROMU_URL) | tar -xvzf - -C $(PROMU_TMP)
 	mkdir -p $(FIRST_GOPATH)/bin
 	cp $(PROMU_TMP)/promu-$(PROMU_VERSION).$(GO_BUILD_PLATFORM)/promu $(FIRST_GOPATH)/bin/promu
 	rm -r $(PROMU_TMP)
+endif
 
 .PHONY: proto
 proto: