diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index b07a87824a..a152fc40ef 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1888,6 +1888,7 @@ gtk/gtkversion.h
 gtk/gtk-win32.rc
 gtk/inspector/Makefile
 gtk/native/Makefile
+util/Makefile
 libgail-util/Makefile
 modules/Makefile
 modules/input/Makefile
diff --git a/gtk/Makefile.am b/gtk/Makefile.am
index ac3295c688..45086bbd3a 100644
--- a/gtk/Makefile.am
+++ b/gtk/Makefile.am
@@ -1321,9 +1321,9 @@ COMPOSITE_TEMPLATES =				\
 
 template_headers = $(COMPOSITE_TEMPLATES:.ui=.ui.h)
 
-%.ui.h: %.ui extract-strings$(BUILD_EXEEXT)
+%.ui.h: %.ui
 	$(AM_V_GEN) mkdir -p $(dir $@) \
-	&& ./extract-strings$(BUILD_EXEEXT) $< > $@
+	&& $(top_builddir)/util/extract-strings$(BUILD_EXEEXT) $< > $@
 
 #
 # rules to generate built sources
@@ -1616,17 +1616,6 @@ endif
 gtk_launch_LDADD = $(LDADDS)
 gtk_launch_SOURCES = gtk-launch.c
 
-# The extract_strings tool is a build utility that runs on the build system.
-extract_strings_sources = extract-strings.c
-extract_strings_cppflags =
-extract_strings_cflags = $(GLIB_CFLAGS_FOR_BUILD)
-extract_strings_ldadd = $(GLIB_LIBS_FOR_BUILD)
-extract-strings$(BUILD_EXEEXT): $(extract_strings_sources)
-	@rm -f extract-strings$(BUILD_EXEEXT)
-	$(AM_V_CCLD)$(CC_FOR_BUILD) $(extract_strings_cppflags) $(CPPFLAGS_FOR_BUILD) $(extract_strings_cflags) $(CFLAGS_FOR_BUILD) $^ $(LDFLAGS_FOR_BUILD) $(extract_strings_ldadd) $(LIBS_FOR_BUILD) -o $@
-EXTRA_DIST += $(extract_strings_sources)
-DISTCLEANFILES += extract-strings
-
 .PHONY: files test test-debug
 
 files:
diff --git a/gtk/inspector/Makefile.am b/gtk/inspector/Makefile.am
index 574b4c1ebe..67e9c4ed88 100644
--- a/gtk/inspector/Makefile.am
+++ b/gtk/inspector/Makefile.am
@@ -6,13 +6,14 @@ resource_files = $(shell $(GLIB_COMPILE_RESOURCES) --sourcedir=$(srcdir) --gener
 resources.h: inspector.gresource.xml
 	$(AM_V_GEN) $(GLIB_COMPILE_RESOURCES) $(srcdir)/inspector.gresource.xml \
 		--target=$@ --sourcedir=$(srcdir) --c-name gtk_inspector --generate-header --manual-register
-resources.c: inspector.gresource.xml $(resource_files) $(template_headers)
+resources.c: inspector.gresource.xml $(resource_files)
 	$(AM_V_GEN) $(GLIB_COMPILE_RESOURCES) $(srcdir)/inspector.gresource.xml \
 		--target=$@ --sourcedir=$(srcdir) --c-name gtk_inspector --generate-source --manual-register
 
 BUILT_SOURCES = 			\
 	resources.h			\
-	resources.c
+	resources.c			\
+	$(template_headers)
 
 libgtkinspector_la_SOURCES = 		\
 	actions.h			\
@@ -98,11 +99,9 @@ templates = 				\
 
 template_headers = $(templates:.ui=.ui.h)
 
-BUILT_SOURCES += $(template_headers)
+extract_strings = $(top_builddir)/util/extract-strings
 
-extract_strings = $(top_builddir)/gtk/extract-strings$(BUILD_EXEEXT)
-
-%.ui.h: %.ui $(extract_strings)
+%.ui.h : %.ui 
 	$(AM_V_GEN) $(extract_strings) $< > $@
 
 EXTRA_DIST += 				\
@@ -112,7 +111,7 @@ EXTRA_DIST += 				\
 
 MAINTAINERCLEANFILES =			\
 	resources.c			\
-	resources.h
+	resources.h			\
 	$(template_headers)
 
 distclean-local:
diff --git a/util/Makefile.am b/util/Makefile.am
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f079800078
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/Makefile.am
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+# The extract_strings tool is a build utility that runs on the build system.
+extract_strings_sources = extract-strings.c
+extract_strings_cppflags =
+extract_strings_cflags = $(GLIB_CFLAGS_FOR_BUILD)
+extract_strings_ldadd = $(GLIB_LIBS_FOR_BUILD)
+
+extract-strings: $(extract_strings_sources)
+	@rm -f extract-strings
+	$(AM_V_CCLD)$(CC_FOR_BUILD) $(extract_strings_cppflags) $(CPPFLAGS_FOR_BUILD) $(extract_strings_cflags) $(CFLAGS_FOR_BUILD) $^ $(LDFLAGS_FOR_BUILD) $(extract_strings_ldadd) $(LIBS_FOR_BUILD) -o $@
+
+noinst_PROGRAMS = extract-strings
diff --git a/gtk/extract-strings.c b/util/extract-strings.c
similarity index 100%
rename from gtk/extract-strings.c
rename to util/extract-strings.c