diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 699ecbef..986a433f 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -29,3 +29,5 @@ script:
  - BUILD_TAGS="disable_system_stats_monitor" make test
  - make clean && BUILD_TAGS="disable_stackdriver_exporter" make
  - BUILD_TAGS="disable_stackdriver_exporter" make test
+ - make clean && ENABLE_JOURNALD=0 make
+ - ENABLE_JOURNALD=0 make test
diff --git a/Dockerfile.in b/Dockerfile.in
index 076f5be2..ee0609c5 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.in
+++ b/Dockerfile.in
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@ RUN clean-install libsystemd0 bash
 RUN test -h /etc/localtime && rm -f /etc/localtime && cp /usr/share/zoneinfo/UTC /etc/localtime || true
 
 ADD ./bin/node-problem-detector /node-problem-detector
+
+# Below command depends on ENABLE_JOURNAL=1.
 ADD ./bin/log-counter /home/kubernetes/bin/log-counter
+
 ADD config /config
 ENTRYPOINT ["/node-problem-detector", "--system-log-monitors=/config/kernel-monitor.json"]
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index c4951a10..f746c3d0 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ BASEIMAGE:=k8s.gcr.io/debian-base-amd64:v1.0.0
 CGO_ENABLED:=0
 
 # Construct the "-tags" parameter used by "go build".
-BUILD_TAGS?=""
+BUILD_TAGS?=
 ifeq ($(ENABLE_JOURNALD), 1)
 	# Enable journald build tag.
 	BUILD_TAGS:=$(BUILD_TAGS) journald
@@ -71,14 +71,11 @@ ifeq ($(ENABLE_JOURNALD), 1)
 	# statically linked application.
 	CGO_ENABLED:=1
 endif
-ifneq ($(BUILD_TAGS), "")
-	BUILD_TAGS:=-tags "$(BUILD_TAGS)"
-endif
 
 vet:
-	GO111MODULE=on go list -mod vendor $(BUILD_TAGS) ./... | \
+	GO111MODULE=on go list -mod vendor -tags "$(BUILD_TAGS)" ./... | \
 		grep -v "./vendor/*" | \
-		GO111MODULE=on xargs go vet -mod vendor $(BUILD_TAGS)
+		GO111MODULE=on xargs go vet -mod vendor -tags "$(BUILD_TAGS)"
 
 fmt:
 	find . -type f -name "*.go" | grep -v "./vendor/*" | xargs gofmt -s -w -l
@@ -87,29 +84,38 @@ version:
 	@echo $(VERSION)
 
 ./bin/log-counter: $(PKG_SOURCES)
+ifeq ($(ENABLE_JOURNALD), 1)
 	CGO_ENABLED=$(CGO_ENABLED) GOOS=linux GO111MODULE=on go build \
 		-mod vendor \
 		-o bin/log-counter \
 		-ldflags '-X $(PKG)/pkg/version.version=$(VERSION)' \
-		$(BUILD_TAGS) \
+		-tags "$(BUILD_TAGS)" \
 		cmd/logcounter/log_counter.go
+else
+	echo "Warning: log-counter requires journald, skipping."
+endif
 
 ./bin/node-problem-detector: $(PKG_SOURCES)
 	CGO_ENABLED=$(CGO_ENABLED) GOOS=linux GO111MODULE=on go build \
 		-mod vendor \
 		-o bin/node-problem-detector \
 		-ldflags '-X $(PKG)/pkg/version.version=$(VERSION)' \
-		$(BUILD_TAGS) \
+		-tags "$(BUILD_TAGS)" \
 		./cmd/nodeproblemdetector
 
 Dockerfile: Dockerfile.in
 	sed -e 's|@BASEIMAGE@|$(BASEIMAGE)|g' $< >$@
+ifneq ($(ENABLE_JOURNALD), 1)
+	sed -i '/Below command depends on ENABLE_JOURNAL=1/,+2d' $@
+	echo "Warning: log-counter requires journald, skipping."
+endif
+
 
 test: vet fmt
-	GO111MODULE=on go test -mod vendor -timeout=1m -v -race -short $(BUILD_TAGS) ./...
+	GO111MODULE=on go test -mod vendor -timeout=1m -v -race -short -tags "$(BUILD_TAGS)" ./...
 
 e2e-test: vet fmt build-tar
-	GO111MODULE=on go test -mod vendor -timeout=10m -v $(BUILD_TAGS) \
+	GO111MODULE=on go test -mod vendor -timeout=10m -v -tags "$(BUILD_TAGS)" \
 	./test/e2e/metriconly/... \
 	-project=$(PROJECT) -zone=$(ZONE) \
 	-image=$(VM_IMAGE) -image-family=$(IMAGE_FAMILY) -image-project=$(IMAGE_PROJECT) \
diff --git a/cmd/logcounter/log_counter.go b/cmd/logcounter/log_counter.go
index d3c03de2..21ee1e9c 100644
--- a/cmd/logcounter/log_counter.go
+++ b/cmd/logcounter/log_counter.go
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+// +build journald
+
 /*
 Copyright 2018 The Kubernetes Authors All rights reserved.
 
diff --git a/pkg/logcounter/log_counter.go b/pkg/logcounter/log_counter.go
index 7fd22e57..c31f8c34 100644
--- a/pkg/logcounter/log_counter.go
+++ b/pkg/logcounter/log_counter.go
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+// +build journald
+
 /*
 Copyright 2018 The Kubernetes Authors All rights reserved.
 
diff --git a/pkg/logcounter/log_counter_test.go b/pkg/logcounter/log_counter_test.go
index 23ec27b0..adbf8f26 100644
--- a/pkg/logcounter/log_counter_test.go
+++ b/pkg/logcounter/log_counter_test.go
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+// +build journald
+
 /*
 Copyright 2018 The Kubernetes Authors All rights reserved.