diff --git a/stage2/make.mk b/stage2/make.mk
index 4847ca7..085113c 100644
--- a/stage2/make.mk
+++ b/stage2/make.mk
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 stage2.lsp: $(wildcard stage2/*.lsp)
-	cat $^ > stage2.lsp
+	# strip comments
+	sed -E '/^ *(;.*)?$$/d' $^ > stage2.lsp
 
 clean-stage2:
 	rm -f stage2.lsp