diff --git a/tools/toolchains/__init__.py b/tools/toolchains/__init__.py
index ecda6b88b6..ce0ee7cd3b 100644
--- a/tools/toolchains/__init__.py
+++ b/tools/toolchains/__init__.py
@@ -887,7 +887,10 @@ class mbedToolchain:
         if ext == '.c' or  ext == '.cpp':
             base, _ = splitext(object)
             dep_path = base + '.d'
-            deps = self.parse_dependencies(dep_path) if (exists(dep_path)) else []
+            try:
+                deps = self.parse_dependencies(dep_path) if (exists(dep_path)) else []
+            except IOError, IndexError:
+                deps = []
             if len(deps) == 0 or self.need_update(object, deps):
                 if ext == '.cpp' or self.COMPILE_C_AS_CPP:
                     return self.compile_cpp(source, object, includes)