diff --git a/lib/configure.js b/lib/configure.js
index 25987bbb51..ee672cfbf2 100644
--- a/lib/configure.js
+++ b/lib/configure.js
@@ -93,18 +93,24 @@ async function configure (gyp, argv) {
       'build dir', '"build" dir needed to be created?', isNew ? 'Yes' : 'No'
     )
     if (win) {
-      let gypFormatIndex = argv.indexOf('-f')
-      if (gypFormatIndex === -1) {
-        gypFormatIndex = argv.indexOf('--format')
-      }
-      if (gypFormatIndex === -1 || !argv[gypFormatIndex + 1] || argv[gypFormatIndex + 1].startsWith('msvs')) {
-        const vsInfo = await findVisualStudio(release.semver, gyp.opts['msvs-version'])
-        return createConfigFile(vsInfo)
+      let usingMakeGenerator = false
+      for (let i = argv.length - 1; i >= 0; --i) {
+        const arg = argv[i]
+        if (arg === '-f' || arg === '--format') {
+          const format = argv[i + 1]
+          if (typeof format === 'string' && format.startsWith('make')) {
+            usingMakeGenerator = true
+            break
+          }
+        } else if (arg.startsWith('--format=make')) {
+          usingMakeGenerator = true
+          break
+        }
       }
       let vsInfo = {}
-      try {
+      if (!usingMakeGenerator) {
         vsInfo = await findVisualStudio(release.semver, gyp.opts['msvs-version'])
-      } catch (_) {}
+      }
       return createConfigFile(vsInfo)
     }
     return createConfigFile(null)