diff --git a/usr.bin/make/unit-tests/job-flags.exp b/usr.bin/make/unit-tests/job-flags.exp
index 7bc29490067e..b0c81d8f7094 100644
--- a/usr.bin/make/unit-tests/job-flags.exp
+++ b/usr.bin/make/unit-tests/job-flags.exp
@@ -4,5 +4,9 @@ ignore
 true in ignore
 false in ignore
 *** [ignore] Error code 1 (ignored)
+false without indentation
+false space
+false tab
+*** [ignore-cmds] Error code 1 (ignored)
 .END
 exit status 0
diff --git a/usr.bin/make/unit-tests/job-flags.mk b/usr.bin/make/unit-tests/job-flags.mk
index d8216c927769..d4c3b5d43643 100644
--- a/usr.bin/make/unit-tests/job-flags.mk
+++ b/usr.bin/make/unit-tests/job-flags.mk
@@ -1,23 +1,32 @@
-# $NetBSD: job-flags.mk,v 1.1 2020/11/07 20:01:17 rillig Exp $
+# $NetBSD: job-flags.mk,v 1.2 2020/11/14 13:17:47 rillig Exp $
 #
 # Tests for Job.flags, which are controlled by special source dependencies
 # like .SILENT or .IGNORE, as well as the command line options -s or -i.
 
 .MAKEFLAGS: -j1
 
-all: silent .WAIT ignore
+all: silent .WAIT ignore .WAIT ignore-cmds
 
 .BEGIN:
 	@echo $@
 
-silent: .SILENT
+silent: .SILENT .PHONY
 	echo $@
 
-ignore: .IGNORE
+ignore: .IGNORE .PHONY
 	@echo $@
 	true in $@
 	false in $@
 	@echo 'Still there in $@'
 
+ignore-cmds: .PHONY
+	# This node is not marked .IGNORE; individual commands can be switched
+	# to ignore mode by prefixing them with a '-'.
+	-false without indentation
+	# This also works if the '-' is indented by a space or a tab.
+	# Leading whitespace is stripped off by ParseLine_ShellCommand.
+	 -false space
+		-false tab
+
 .END:
 	@echo $@