diff --git a/Makefile.defs b/Makefile.defs
index 96404813121..74c9aa3ba91 100644
--- a/Makefile.defs
+++ b/Makefile.defs
@@ -529,8 +529,8 @@ endif
 
 ifneq (,$(MEM_STATS_HDR))
 EXPECTED_MD5=$(shell [ -f $(MEM_STATS_HDR) ] && tail -n 1 $(MEM_STATS_HDR) | awk '{print $$4}')
-MODULES_MD5=$(shell find $(dir $(MEM_STATS_HDR))/../modules -name "[Mm]akefile" | \
-			awk -F/ '{print $$(NF - 1)}' | sort | $(md5sum_cmd) | awk '{print $$1}')
+MODULES_MD5=$(shell find $(dir $(MEM_STATS_HDR))/../modules -maxdepth 2 -name "[Mm]akefile" | \
+			awk -F/ '{print $$(NF - 1)}' | sort -u | $(md5sum_cmd) | awk '{print $$1}')
 ifneq ($(EXPECTED_MD5),$(MODULES_MD5))
 REGENERATE_MEM_STATS=remove-mem-stats
 endif
diff --git a/Makefile.modules b/Makefile.modules
index 2708db3e81c..b01d682ba15 100644
--- a/Makefile.modules
+++ b/Makefile.modules
@@ -42,8 +42,8 @@ else
 	md5sum_cmd = md5sum
 endif
 EXPECTED_MD5=$(shell [ -f $(MEM_STATS_HDR) ] && tail -n 1 $(MEM_STATS_HDR) | awk '{print $$4}')
-MODULES_MD5=$(shell find $(dir $(MEM_STATS_HDR))/../modules -name "[Mm]akefile" | \
-			awk -F/ '{print $$(NF - 1)}' | sort | $(md5sum_cmd) | awk '{print $$1}')
+MODULES_MD5=$(shell find $(dir $(MEM_STATS_HDR))/../modules -maxdepth 2 -name "[Mm]akefile" | \
+			awk -F/ '{print $$(NF - 1)}' | sort -u | $(md5sum_cmd) | awk '{print $$1}')
 ifneq ($(EXPECTED_MD5),$(MODULES_MD5))
 REGENERATE_MEM_STATS=remove-mem-stats
 endif
diff --git a/Makefile.rules b/Makefile.rules
index 4c95c4e9b25..83db9dbb2ce 100644
--- a/Makefile.rules
+++ b/Makefile.rules
@@ -68,8 +68,8 @@ Makefile.conf: Makefile.conf.template
 
 # no need to generate mem/mem_stats.c from anywhere else
 mem/mem_stats.c: mem/mem_stats.h
-	@find modules/ -name "[Mm]akefile" -exec grep "NAME\s*=" {} \; \
-		| awk 'BEGIN { FS = "[=\\. ]"; \
+	@find modules/ -maxdepth 2 -name "[Mm]akefile" -exec grep "NAME\s*=" {} \; \
+		| sort -u | awk 'BEGIN { FS = "[=\\. ]"; \
 		print "/* This file is auto-generated by running \"make generate-mem-stats\" */"; \
 		print "/* You should NOT edit this file manually */"; \
 		print "#ifdef SHM_EXTRA_STATS"; \
@@ -82,8 +82,8 @@ remove-mem-stats:
 	-@rm -f $(MEM_STATS_HDR)
 
 %mem_stats.h: $(REGENERATE_MEM_STATS)
-	@find $(dir $@)/../modules/ -name "[Mm]akefile" -exec grep "NAME\s*=" {} \; \
-		| awk 'BEGIN { FS = "[=\\. ]"; \
+	@find $(dir $@)/../modules/ -maxdepth 2 -name "[Mm]akefile" -exec grep "NAME\s*=" {} \; \
+		| sort -u | awk 'BEGIN { FS = "[=\\. ]"; \
 		print "/* This file is auto-generated by running \"make generate-mem-stats\" */"; \
 		print "/* You should NOT edit this file manually */"; \
 		print "#ifdef SHM_EXTRA_STATS"; \