diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 8cd82b1fb5..45a2bb1e51 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 make_config.mk
+test_config.mk
 rocksdb.pc
 
 *.a
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index a92ea2c2f2..1c36a70166 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ endif
 endif
 
 export JAVAC_ARGS
-CLEAN_FILES += make_config.mk rocksdb.pc
+CLEAN_FILES += make_config.mk test_config.mk rocksdb.pc
 
 ifeq ($(V), 1)
 $(info $(shell uname -a))
diff --git a/common.mk b/common.mk
index 1532ae29b3..f1554406cf 100644
--- a/common.mk
+++ b/common.mk
@@ -14,6 +14,11 @@ endif
 ifeq ($(TEST_TMPDIR),)
 TEST_TMPDIR := $(TMPD)
 endif
+# Avoid setting up the tmp directory on Makefile restarts or when the target
+# isn't a check target
+ifeq ($(MAKE_RESTARTS),)
+ifneq ($(filter %check,$(MAKECMDGOALS)),)
+
 ifeq ($(TEST_TMPDIR),)
 ifeq ($(BASE_TMPDIR),)
 BASE_TMPDIR :=$(TMPDIR)
@@ -28,4 +33,19 @@ BASE_TMPDIR :=/dev/shm
 endif
 TEST_TMPDIR := $(shell mktemp -d "$(BASE_TMPDIR)/rocksdb.XXXX")
 endif
+
+# The `export` line below doesn't work in case Make restarts (due to included
+# makefiles getting remade), so we need to output the directory we created into
+# a temporary config file that will be included by the `include` directive below
+# in case of a restart (we don't want to output it into make_config.mk in order
+# to avoid having the TEST_TMPDIR implicitly set for test that are run through
+# makefiles that include make_config.mk, and because we don't want to change
+# make_config.mk on every run)
+$(shell echo 'TEST_TMPDIR?=$(TEST_TMPDIR)' > test_config.mk)
+
+endif
+endif
+
+-include test_config.mk
+
 export TEST_TMPDIR