diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index be13207c4..24300aae6 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -11,16 +11,19 @@ BUILD_MSG := "\x1B[92mBuilding:\x1B[39m"
 INFO_MSG := "\x1B[94mInfo:\x1B[39m"
 WARN_MSG := "\x1B[93mWarning:\x1B[39m"
 
-# Nim binary detection
-NIM_BINARY := $(shell which nim 2>/dev/null)
-ifeq ($(NIM_BINARY),)
-  $(error Nim compiler not found. Please install Nim >= 2.2.4)
-endif
-
-# Nimble binary detection
+# Nimble binary detection (required for all targets)
 NIMBLE_BINARY := $(shell which nimble 2>/dev/null)
 ifeq ($(NIMBLE_BINARY),)
-  $(error Nimble not found. Please install Nimble)
+  $(error Nimble not found. Please install Nimble first)
+endif
+
+# Nim binary detection (skip check for 'update' and 'clean' targets which don't need Nim)
+NIM_BINARY := $(shell which nim 2>/dev/null)
+SKIP_NIM_CHECK_TARGETS := update clean
+ifeq ($(filter $(MAKECMDGOALS),$(SKIP_NIM_CHECK_TARGETS)),)
+  ifeq ($(NIM_BINARY),)
+    $(error Nim compiler not found. Run 'make update' to install Nim from nimble.lock)
+  endif
 endif
 
 # Environment script (simplified - just use current env)
@@ -325,21 +328,19 @@ networkmonitor: | build deps librln
 ############
 .PHONY: build-nph install-nph clean-nph print-nph-path
 
-# Default location for nph binary shall be next to nim binary to make it available on the path.
-NPH:=$(shell dirname $(NIM_BINARY))/nph
+# nph binary is placed next to nim binary so it's on PATH
+# All nph targets use shell evaluation to find nim dynamically (after nimble setup installs it)
 
-# nph is installed via Nimble, find it in nimble bin directory
-NIMBLE_BIN_DIR := $(shell nimble path 2>/dev/null | head -1 | xargs dirname 2>/dev/null)/../bin
-NPH_NIMBLE := $(NIMBLE_BIN_DIR)/nph
-
-build-nph: | build deps
-ifeq ("$(wildcard $(NPH))","")
-	@echo -e $(INFO_MSG) "Building nph from locked dependencies..."
-	cd $(shell nimble path nph) && nim c -d:release -o:$(NPH) src/nph.nim
-	@echo "nph utility is available at $(NPH)"
-else
-	@echo "nph utility already exists at $(NPH)"
-endif
+build-nph:
+	@NPH_BIN="$$(dirname $$(which nim))/nph"; \
+	if [ ! -f "$$NPH_BIN" ]; then \
+		echo -e $(INFO_MSG) "Building nph from locked dependencies..."; \
+		NPH_SRC="$$(nimble path nph)"; \
+		cd "$$NPH_SRC" && nim c -d:release -o:"$$NPH_BIN" src/nph.nim; \
+		echo "nph utility is available at $$NPH_BIN"; \
+	else \
+		echo "nph utility already exists at $$NPH_BIN"; \
+	fi
 
 GIT_PRE_COMMIT_HOOK := .git/hooks/pre-commit
 
@@ -352,15 +353,17 @@ else
 endif
 
 nph/%: | build-nph
+	@NPH_BIN="$$(dirname $$(which nim))/nph"; \
 	echo -e $(FORMAT_MSG) "nph/$*" && \
-		$(NPH) $*
+		"$$NPH_BIN" $*
 
 clean-nph:
-	rm -f $(NPH)
+	@NPH_BIN="$$(dirname $$(which nim 2>/dev/null || echo /tmp))/nph"; \
+	rm -f "$$NPH_BIN"
 
 # To avoid hardcoding nph binary location in several places
 print-nph-path:
-	echo "$(NPH)"
+	@echo "$$(dirname $$(which nim))/nph"
 
 clean: | clean-nph