diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 873b8bfb..6fff23b5 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -63,10 +63,18 @@ ldflags = -X github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/version.Name=fetch \
 ifeq ($(WITH_CLEVELDB),yes)
   ldflags += -X github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/types.DBBackend=cleveldb
 endif
+
+# PIE is enabled for all builds.
+#
+# PIE and static linking are *independent* properties:
+#   -buildmode=pie     -> position-independent executable (platform *independent*)
+#   -static-pie        -> *Linux* only *static* linking of the PIE executable
+buildmode_flags += -buildmode=pie
+
 ldflags += $(LDFLAGS)
 ldflags := $(strip $(ldflags))
 
-BUILD_FLAGS := -tags $(build_tags_comma_sep) -ldflags '$(ldflags)' -trimpath
+BUILD_FLAGS := -tags $(build_tags_comma_sep) -ldflags '$(ldflags)' -trimpath $(buildmode_flags)
 
 # The below include contains the tools target.
 #include contrib/devtools/Makefile
@@ -152,6 +160,7 @@ $(TEST_TARGETS): run-tests
 
 SUB_MODULES = $(shell find . -type f -name 'go.mod' -print0 | xargs -0 -n1 dirname | sort)
 CURRENT_DIR = $(shell pwd)
+
 run-tests:
 ifneq (,$(shell which tparse 2>/dev/null))
 	@echo "Unit tests"; \
@@ -190,7 +199,7 @@ localnet-start: build-linux localnet-stop
 	@if ! [ -f build/node0/fetchd/config/genesis.json ]; then docker run --rm -v $(CURDIR)/build:/fetchd:Z tendermint/fetchdnode testnet --v 4 -o . --starting-ip-address 192.168.10.2 ; fi
 	docker-compose up -d
 
-# Stop testnet
+# Stop local testnet
 localnet-stop:
 	docker-compose down
 
@@ -253,4 +262,6 @@ proto-update-deps:
 
 	@mkdir -p $(COSMOS_PROTO_TYPES)/base/query/v1beta1/
 	@curl -sSL $(COSMOS_PROTO_URL)/base/query/v1beta1/pagination.proto > $(COSMOS_PROTO_TYPES)/base/query/v1beta1/pagination.proto
+
+	@mkdir -p $(COSMOS_PROTO_TYPES)/base/v1beta1/
 	@curl -sSL $(COSMOS_PROTO_URL)/base/v1beta1/coin.proto > $(COSMOS_PROTO_TYPES)/base/v1beta1/coin.proto