diff --git a/code/setup/setup_code.py b/code/setup/setup_code.py
index dd8398fa4..9f8f0efbc 100755
--- a/code/setup/setup_code.py
+++ b/code/setup/setup_code.py
@@ -30,4 +30,6 @@ for arch in architectures:
 		childFile.close()
 
 os.system('make --directory %s'%wd)
-os.system('make --directory %s clean'%wd)
+
+if not '--noclean' in [s.lower() for s in sys.argv]:
+  os.system('make --directory %s clean'%wd)