diff --git a/Makefile.base b/Makefile.base
index 5174119c09..0e171fb19b 100644
--- a/Makefile.base
+++ b/Makefile.base
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ ifeq (1, $(SUBMODULES))
   BASE_MODULE ?= $(MODULE)
 
   # for each $(BASE_MODULE)_<name> in USEMODULE, add <name>.c to SRC
-  SRC += $(patsubst $(BASE_MODULE)_%,%.c,$(filter $(BASE_MODULE)_%,$(USEMODULE)))
+  SRC += $(wildcard $(patsubst $(BASE_MODULE)_%,%.c,$(filter $(BASE_MODULE)_%,$(USEMODULE))))
 
   # don't fail if a selected *.c file does not exist
   ifeq (1, $(SUBMODULES_NOFORCE))