diff --git a/clientside/GNUmakefile.in b/clientside/GNUmakefile.in
index 06b1ebb30d1c01254975290c08aafd749b63717f..15bacf857f7069f0ee2c2995f6ff073abd38fad7 100644
--- a/clientside/GNUmakefile.in
+++ b/clientside/GNUmakefile.in
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright (c) 2000-2012 University of Utah and the Flux Group.
+# Copyright (c) 2000-2014 University of Utah and the Flux Group.
 # 
 # {{{EMULAB-LICENSE
 # 
@@ -28,7 +28,10 @@ SYSTEM	       := $(shell uname -s)
 
 include $(OBJDIR)/Makeconf
 
-SUBDIRS         = lib event tools os sensors tmcc protogeni
+SUBDIRS         = lib tools os sensors tmcc protogeni
+ifneq ($(EVENTSYS),0)
+SUBDIRS += event
+endif
 
 ifeq ($(WITH_EMULAB),1)
 all:	all-subdirs
diff --git a/clientside/lib/GNUmakefile.in b/clientside/lib/GNUmakefile.in
index 72f4608e98b5f2a2dfaa337c9a44a92aa1550bd2..1f753dd35a980ddee7df5f96347b702a2abe74a8 100644
--- a/clientside/lib/GNUmakefile.in
+++ b/clientside/lib/GNUmakefile.in
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright (c) 2000-2013 University of Utah and the Flux Group.
+# Copyright (c) 2000-2014 University of Utah and the Flux Group.
 # 
 # {{{EMULAB-LICENSE
 # 
@@ -27,7 +27,10 @@ SUBDIR		= $(subst $(TESTBED_SRCDIR)/,,$(SRCDIR))
 
 include $(OBJDIR)/Makeconf
 
-SUBDIRS	= libtb event tmcd
+SUBDIRS	= libtb tmcd
+ifneq ($(EVENTSYS),0)
+SUBDIRS += event
+endif
 
 all:	all-subdirs
 
diff --git a/clientside/tools/pcapper/GNUmakefile.in b/clientside/tools/pcapper/GNUmakefile.in
index 94c636a8845090e03ab5f33b84d79c7f11d608d4..9fe8b17442a0ad11bc419753735581914576863e 100644
--- a/clientside/tools/pcapper/GNUmakefile.in
+++ b/clientside/tools/pcapper/GNUmakefile.in
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright (c) 2000-2012 University of Utah and the Flux Group.
+# Copyright (c) 2000-2014 University of Utah and the Flux Group.
 # 
 # {{{EMULAB-LICENSE
 # 
@@ -56,12 +56,18 @@ PTHREADCFLAGS = -D_THREAD_SAFE
 PTHREADLIBS   = -lpthread
 endif
 
+ifneq ($(EVENTSYS),0)
 ELVINFLAGS    = -I/usr/local/include
 ELVINLIBS     = -L/usr/local/lib -lpubsub -lm
 EVENTFLAGS    = -DEVENTSYS -I$(TESTBED_LIBSRCDIR)/event $(ELVINFLAGS)
 EVENTOBJS     = $(TESTBED_LIBOBJDIR)/event/event.o \
 		$(TESTBED_LIBOBJDIR)/event/util.o
 EVENTLIBS     = $(ELVINLIBS) -lcrypto
+else
+EVENTFLAGS    = 
+EVENTOBJS     = 
+EVENTLIBS     = 
+endif
 
 TBCFLAGS      = $(EVENTFLAGS) -I$(TESTBED_LIBSRCDIR)/libtb
 TBLIBS        = $(EVENTOBJS) $(TESTBED_LIBOBJDIR)/libtb/libtb.a $(EVENTLIBS)