diff -ur automake-1.9.6_orig/automake.in automake-1.9.6/automake.in
--- automake-1.9.6_orig/automake.in	2005-06-30 16:17:13.000000000 -0500
+++ automake-1.9.6/automake.in	2005-09-27 13:06:28.000000000 -0500
@@ -1690,6 +1690,10 @@
             # This is probably the result of a direct suffix rule.
             # In this case we just accept the rewrite.
             $object = "$base$extension";
+	    if ($directory ne '')
+            {
+                $object = $directory . '/' . $object;
+            }
             $linker = '';
         }
         else
@@ -1759,7 +1763,7 @@
 
 		# For Java, the way we're handling it right now, a
 		# `..' component doesn't make sense.
-                if ($lang->name eq 'java' && $object =~ /(\/|^)\.\.\//)
+		if ($lang && $lang->name eq 'java' && $object =~ /(\/|^)\.\.\//)
 		  {
 		    err_am "`$full' should not contain a `..' component";
 		  }