diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 0c1f6ea13..fde469c9c 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -3,16 +3,21 @@ VETARGS?=-asmdecl -atomic -bool -buildtags -copylocks -methods -nilfunc -printf
 
 default: test
 
+# bin generates the releaseable binaries for Terraform
 bin: generate
 	@sh -c "'$(CURDIR)/scripts/build.sh'"
 
+# dev creates binaries for testing Terraform locally. These are put
+# into ./bin/ as well as $GOPATH/bin
 dev: generate
 	@TF_DEV=1 sh -c "'$(CURDIR)/scripts/build.sh'"
 
+# test runs the unit tests and vets the code
 test: generate
 	TF_ACC= go test $(TEST) $(TESTARGS) -timeout=30s -parallel=4
 	@$(MAKE) vet
 
+# testacc runs acceptance tests
 testacc: generate
 	@if [ "$(TEST)" = "./..." ]; then \
 		echo "ERROR: Set TEST to a specific package"; \
@@ -20,9 +25,12 @@ testacc: generate
 	fi
 	TF_ACC=1 go test $(TEST) -v $(TESTARGS) -timeout 45m
 
+# testrace runs the race checker
 testrace: generate
 	TF_ACC= go test -race $(TEST) $(TESTARGS)
 
+# updatedeps installs all the dependencies that Terraform needs to run
+# and build.
 updatedeps:
 	$(eval REF := $(shell sh -c "\
 		git symbolic-ref --short HEAD 2>/dev/null \
@@ -33,6 +41,8 @@ updatedeps:
 	go get -f -u -v ./...
 	git checkout $(REF)
 
+# vet runs the Go source code static analysis tool `vet` to find
+# any common errors.
 vet:
 	@go tool vet 2>/dev/null ; if [ $$? -eq 3 ]; then \
 		go get golang.org/x/tools/cmd/vet; \
@@ -44,6 +54,8 @@ vet:
 		echo "and fix them if necessary before submitting the code for reviewal."; \
 	fi
 
+# generate runs `go generate` to build the dynamically generated
+# source files.
 generate:
 	go generate ./...