A patch for the problem has been in upstream CVS since just after the release of 3.80 and I verified it solved the problem for me as well. The patch can be found here: https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/download.php?item_id=1516&item_file_id=120 To reproduce the problem, use the sample make file from this post: http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/help-make/2003-02/msg00005.html
added with make-3.80-r4