Strange Makefile build error on tikv-jemalloc-sys 0.7.1 #167

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1. ti-chi-bot

   added

   contribution

   on Jun 11, 2026
2. orlp

   changed the title [-]Strange build error on tikv-jemalloc-sys 0.7.1[/-] [+]Strange Makefile build error on tikv-jemalloc-sys 0.7.1[/+] on Jun 11, 2026
3. orlp commented on Jun 11, 2026

   

   orlp

   on Jun 11, 2026

   Author

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   The problem lies here:

   jemallocator/jemalloc-sys/build.rs

   Line 405 in 0e91291

   format!("{makeflags} {orig_makeflags}")

   This is not how you merge MAKEFLAGS. Make is very strange in that it will parse and mangle the command line options, turning single-character flags into a block at the start. Take a look at this Makefile:

   foo:
       echo $(MAKEFLAGS)
   

   If I now run:

   $ make -w -j 8 -k foo
   wk --jobserver-fds=3,4 -j
   

   Note how it combined the -w and -k options into just a string wk at the start?

   However if you now naively concatenate this with something which specified -k, you'd get:

   ws --jobserver-fds=3,4 -j k
   

   Now this might work with some versions of Make, but not GNU Make:

   $ MAKEFLAGS='-j16 s' make
   make: *** No rule to make target 's'.  Stop.
   $ make --v
   GNU Make 4.4.1
   Built for x86_64-pc-linux-gnu
   Copyright (C) 1988-2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
   License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
   This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
   There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
   

   👍React with 👍1Reacted by Shane Frasier
4. jsf9k commented on Oct 28, 2026

   

   jsf9k

   on Oct 28, 2026

   Last edited by jsf9k

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   I am seeing something similar when trying to build aws/efs-utils on Debian 13 and 14, Kali, and Fedora 43 and 44:

   cd
     │   \"/tmp/efs-utils/src/target/release/build/tikv-jemalloc-sys-baddff26ebba3f77/out/build\"  │   && MAKEFLAGS=\" -- RUSTFLAGS=-C\\\\ linker=gcc-14 CXX=g++-14 CC=gcc-14 -j
     │   --jobserver-fds=3,11 --jobserver-auth=3,11\" \"make\"
   make[1]: Entering directory
     │   '/tmp/efs-utils/src/target/release/build/tikv-jemalloc-sys-baddff26ebba3f77/out/build'\n  │   make[1]: Leaving directory
     │   '/tmp/efs-utils/src/target/release/build/tikv-jemalloc-sys-baddff26ebba3f77/out/build'\n  │   \n  --- stderr\n  make[1]: *** No rule to make target '-j'.  Stop.\n\n  thread 'main'
     │   (15426) panicked at
     │   /root/.cargo/registry/src/index.crates.io-1949cf8c6b5b557f/tikv-jemalloc-sys-0.6.1+5.3.0  │   -1-ge13ca993e8ccb9ba9847cc330696e02839f328f7/build.rs:411:9:\n  command did not execute
     │   successfully: cd
     │   \"/tmp/efs-utils/src/target/release/build/tikv-jemalloc-sys-baddff26ebba3f77/out/build\"  │   && MAKEFLAGS=\" -- RUSTFLAGS=-C\\\\ linker=gcc-14 CXX=g++-14 CC=gcc-14 -j
     │   --jobserver-fds=3,11 --jobserver-auth=3,11\" \"make\"\n  expected success, got: exit
     │   status: 2\n
5. jsf9k commented on Oct 28, 2026

   

   jsf9k

   on Oct 28, 2026

   Last edited by jsf9k

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   I believe the issue is only happening with make>=4.4, since I am able to use the same code to successfully build on Debian 12 (which has make version 4.3). All the platforms listed here have make>=4.4.