diff --git a/tool/depot/dependencies b/tool/depot/dependencies
index 3e0955d061..684ed21e95 100755
--- a/tool/depot/dependencies
+++ b/tool/depot/dependencies
@@ -22,8 +22,10 @@ endef
 
 export GENODE_DIR := $(realpath $(dir $(MAKEFILE_LIST))/../..)
 
-include $(GENODE_DIR)/tool/depot/mk/front_end.inc
-include $(GENODE_DIR)/tool/depot/mk/categorize_args.inc
+DEPOT_TOOL_DIR ?= $(GENODE_DIR)/tool/depot
+
+include $(DEPOT_TOOL_DIR)/mk/front_end.inc
+include $(DEPOT_TOOL_DIR)/mk/categorize_args.inc
 
 
 #
@@ -42,7 +44,7 @@ pkg_src_archives  = $(call _pkg_archives_of_type,src,$1)
 pkg_raw_archives  = $(call _pkg_archives_of_type,raw,$1)
 pkg_pkg_archives  = $(call _pkg_archives_of_type,pkg,$1)
 
-include $(GENODE_DIR)/tool/depot/mk/dependencies.inc
+include $(DEPOT_TOOL_DIR)/mk/dependencies.inc
 
 
 #
diff --git a/tool/depot/download b/tool/depot/download
index 16468ad299..b584444cc8 100755
--- a/tool/depot/download
+++ b/tool/depot/download
@@ -18,15 +18,16 @@ endef
 
 export GENODE_DIR := $(realpath $(dir $(MAKEFILE_LIST))/../..)
 
-PUBLIC_DIR ?= $(GENODE_DIR)/public
+PUBLIC_DIR     ?= $(GENODE_DIR)/public
+DEPOT_TOOL_DIR ?= $(GENODE_DIR)/tool/depot
 
-include $(GENODE_DIR)/tool/depot/mk/front_end.inc
+include $(DEPOT_TOOL_DIR)/mk/front_end.inc
 
 # sanitize arguments
 ARGS := $(subst ..,__,$(MAKECMDGOALS))
 
-DEPENDENCIES_CMD = $(GENODE_DIR)/tool/depot/dependencies $(ARGS)
-DOWNLOAD_CMD     = $(GENODE_DIR)/tool/depot/mk/downloader VERBOSE=$(VERBOSE)
+DEPENDENCIES_CMD = $(DEPOT_TOOL_DIR)/dependencies $(ARGS)
+DOWNLOAD_CMD     = $(DEPOT_TOOL_DIR)/mk/downloader VERBOSE=$(VERBOSE)
 
 .PHONY: download
 download:
diff --git a/tool/depot/mk/downloader b/tool/depot/mk/downloader
index 3c513a591a..2dd91d4416 100755
--- a/tool/depot/mk/downloader
+++ b/tool/depot/mk/downloader
@@ -8,9 +8,10 @@
 
 export GENODE_DIR := $(realpath $(dir $(MAKEFILE_LIST))/../../..)
 
-REMOTE_DIR ?= $(GENODE_DIR)/remote
-PUBLIC_DIR ?= $(GENODE_DIR)/public
-DEPOT_DIR  ?= $(GENODE_DIR)/depot
+REMOTE_DIR     ?= $(GENODE_DIR)/remote
+PUBLIC_DIR     ?= $(GENODE_DIR)/public
+DEPOT_DIR      ?= $(GENODE_DIR)/depot
+DEPOT_TOOL_DIR ?= $(GENODE_DIR)/tool/depot
 
 define HELP_MESSAGE
 
@@ -22,7 +23,7 @@ define HELP_MESSAGE
 
 endef
 
-include $(GENODE_DIR)/tool/depot/mk/front_end.inc
+include $(DEPOT_TOOL_DIR)/mk/front_end.inc
 
 TARGETS := $(addprefix $(DEPOT_DIR)/,$(MAKECMDGOALS))
 
@@ -37,7 +38,7 @@ TARGETS := $(addprefix $(DEPOT_DIR)/,$(MAKECMDGOALS))
 
 ARCHIVES := $(MAKECMDGOALS)
 
-include $(GENODE_DIR)/tool/depot/mk/gpg.inc
+include $(DEPOT_TOOL_DIR)/mk/gpg.inc
 
 $(DEPOT_DIR)/% : $(PUBLIC_DIR)/%.tar.xz $(PUBLIC_DIR)/%.tar.xz.sig
 	$(VERBOSE)pubkey_file=$(call pubkey_path,$*); \
diff --git a/tool/depot/mk/front_end.inc b/tool/depot/mk/front_end.inc
index 7820c343f9..c302040fbc 100644
--- a/tool/depot/mk/front_end.inc
+++ b/tool/depot/mk/front_end.inc
@@ -5,7 +5,9 @@
 TARGET := $(firstword $(sort $(MAKECMDGOALS)))
 .PHONY: $(TARGET)
 
-include $(GENODE_DIR)/tool/depot/mk/common.inc
+DEPOT_TOOL_DIR ?= $(GENODE_DIR)/tool/depot
+
+include $(DEPOT_TOOL_DIR)/mk/common.inc
 
 # list of all repositories located at '<genode-dir>/repos/'
 REPOSITORIES ?= $(shell find $(GENODE_DIR)/repos -follow -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d)
diff --git a/tool/depot/publish b/tool/depot/publish
index 7d1d51d87e..67968f7861 100755
--- a/tool/depot/publish
+++ b/tool/depot/publish
@@ -28,11 +28,12 @@ endef
 
 export GENODE_DIR := $(realpath $(dir $(MAKEFILE_LIST))/../..)
 
-PUBLIC_DIR ?= $(GENODE_DIR)/public
+PUBLIC_DIR     ?= $(GENODE_DIR)/public
+DEPOT_TOOL_DIR ?= $(GENODE_DIR)/tool/depot
 
 XZ_THREADS ?= 1
 
-include $(GENODE_DIR)/tool/depot/mk/front_end.inc
+include $(DEPOT_TOOL_DIR)/mk/front_end.inc
 
 
 #
@@ -40,7 +41,9 @@ include $(GENODE_DIR)/tool/depot/mk/front_end.inc
 #
 
 ifneq ($(MAKECMDGOALS),)
-DEPENDENCIES_CMD    := $(GENODE_DIR)/tool/depot/dependencies DEPOT_DIR="$(DEPOT_DIR)" $(MAKECMDGOALS)
+DEPENDENCIES_CMD := $(DEPOT_TOOL_DIR)/dependencies DEPOT_DIR="$(DEPOT_DIR)" \
+                                                   DEPOT_TOOL_DIR="$(DEPOT_TOOL_DIR)" \
+                                                   $(MAKECMDGOALS)
 DEPENDENCIES_RESULT := $(shell $(DEPENDENCIES_CMD) 2> /dev/null || true)
 endif
 
@@ -85,7 +88,7 @@ index_missing_error:
 # Generate compressed and signed archives and index files
 #
 
-include $(GENODE_DIR)/tool/depot/mk/gpg.inc
+include $(DEPOT_TOOL_DIR)/mk/gpg.inc
 
 MISSING_PUBKEY_FILES := $(sort \
                            $(foreach A,$(ARCHIVES),\