diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9ec1a84b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+############################################################
+#  Small makefile for building PRISM source distributions  #
+############################################################
+
+default: none
+
+none:
+	@echo 'Did you want to build PRISM? Do "cd prism" and then "make"'
+
+VERSION=# default value for VERSION is blank to force provision at command-line 
+
+dist_src: dist_check_version
+	mv prism-examples prism/examples
+	mv cudd prism
+	mv prism "prism-$(VERSION)-src"
+	(cd "prism-$(VERSION)-src"; $(MAKE) clean_all )
+	(cd "prism-$(VERSION)-src"; $(MAKE) dist_tidy )
+
+dist_check_version:
+	@if [ "$(VERSION)" = "" ]; then echo "Usage: make dist_src VERSION=XXX"; exit 1; fi
+
+#################################################