diff --git a/Makefile.common b/Makefile.common
index d8b798909..4de21512f 100644
--- a/Makefile.common
+++ b/Makefile.common
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ SKIP_GOLANGCI_LINT :=
 GOLANGCI_LINT :=
 GOLANGCI_LINT_OPTS ?=
 GOLANGCI_LINT_VERSION ?= v2.1.5
+GOLANGCI_FMT_OPTS ?=
 # golangci-lint only supports linux, darwin and windows platforms on i386/amd64/arm64.
 # windows isn't included here because of the path separator being different.
 ifeq ($(GOHOSTOS),$(filter $(GOHOSTOS),linux darwin))
@@ -156,9 +157,13 @@ $(GOTEST_DIR):
 	@mkdir -p $@
 
 .PHONY: common-format
-common-format:
+common-format: $(GOLANGCI_LINT)
 	@echo ">> formatting code"
 	$(GO) fmt $(pkgs)
+ifdef GOLANGCI_LINT
+	@echo ">> formatting code with golangci-lint"
+	$(GOLANGCI_LINT) fmt $(GOLANGCI_FMT_OPTS)
+endif
 
 .PHONY: common-vet
 common-vet:
@@ -248,8 +253,8 @@ $(PROMU):
 	cp $(PROMU_TMP)/promu-$(PROMU_VERSION).$(GO_BUILD_PLATFORM)/promu $(FIRST_GOPATH)/bin/promu
 	rm -r $(PROMU_TMP)
 
-.PHONY: proto
-proto:
+.PHONY: common-proto
+common-proto:
 	@echo ">> generating code from proto files"
 	@./scripts/genproto.sh