diff --git a/makefile b/makefile
index 862f0ab..b8f210a 100644
--- a/makefile
+++ b/makefile
@@ -11,27 +11,31 @@ SRC := $(wildcard $(SRCDIR)/*.c)
 OBJ := $(patsubst $(SRCDIR)/%.c,$(BUILDDIR)/%.o,$(SRC))
 LIB := $(BUILDDIR)/$(LIBNAME).so
 
-.PHONY: all clean clean-pycache test
+.PHONY: all clean test
 
 all: $(LIB)
 
 $(BUILDDIR):
 	@mkdir -p $(BUILDDIR)
 
-# compile each .c into build/*.o
 $(BUILDDIR)/%.o: $(SRCDIR)/%.c | $(BUILDDIR)
 	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -I$(INCDIR) -c $< -o $@
 
-# link shared library
 $(LIB): $(OBJ)
 	$(CC) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@ $^
 
 clean:
-	@echo "Cleaning Python caches..."
-	@find . -type d -name "__pycache__"  -exec rm -rf {} +
-	@find . -type d -name ".pytest_cache" -exec rm -rf {} +
+	@echo "Cleaning build and Python caches..."
+	@rm -rf $(BUILDDIR)
+	@find . -type d -name "__pycache__"    -exec rm -rf {} +
+	@find . -type d -name ".pytest_cache"  -exec rm -rf {} +
 	@find . -type f \( -name "*.pyc" -o -name "*.pyo" \) -delete
 
-# run Python unit tests
-test: all
-	python3 -m unittest -v && $(MAKE) clean
+# Always rebuild, and always clean afterward (even if tests fail)
+test:
+	@$(MAKE) clean
+	@$(MAKE) all
+	@python3 -m unittest -v; \
+	status=$$?; \
+	$(MAKE) clean; \
+	exit $$status