diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 58ce586f2..da69be96c 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@
 # ntags/ctags output
 /tags
 
+# a symlink that can't be added to the repo because of Windows
+/nimbus.nims
+
 # Ignore dynamic, static libs and libtool archive files
 *.so
 *.dylib
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 0c129b008..8ce7eb149 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ build:
 #  (timestamp-checked) prerequisites here
 #- $(NIM_BINARY) is both a proxy for submodules having been initialised
 #  and a check for the actual compiler build
-deps: $(NIM_BINARY) $(NIMBLE_DIR)
+deps: $(NIM_BINARY) $(NIMBLE_DIR) nimbus.nims
 
 #- depends on Git submodules being initialised
 #- fakes a Nimble package repository with the minimum info needed by the Nim compiler
@@ -112,6 +112,10 @@ $(NIMBLE_DIR): | $(NIM_BINARY)
 			echo -e "$$($(PWD))\n$$($(PWD))" > $$toplevel/$(NIMBLE_DIR)/pkgs/$${sm_path#*/}-#head/$${sm_path#*/}.nimble-link;\
 		} || true'
 
+# symlink
+nimbus.nims:
+	ln -s nimbus.nimble $@
+
 # builds and runs all tests
 test: | build deps
 	$(ENV_SCRIPT) nim test $(NIM_PARAMS) nimbus.nims