MAKEFLAGS += --no-builtin-rules --no-builtin-variables --warn-undefined-variables unexport MAKEFLAGS .DEFAULT_GOAL := all .DELETE_ON_ERROR: .SUFFIXES: SHELL := bash .SHELLFLAGS := -eu -o pipefail -c escape = $(subst ','\'',$(1)) define noexpand ifeq ($$(origin $(1)),environment) $(1) := $$(value $(1)) endif ifeq ($$(origin $(1)),environment override) $(1) := $$(value $(1)) endif ifeq ($$(origin $(1)),command line) override $(1) := $$(value $(1)) endif endef simple_var := Simple value test_var ?= $(simple_var) in test_var $(eval $(call noexpand,test_var)) simple_var := New simple value composite_var := Composite value - $(simple_var) - $(test_var) .PHONY: test test: @printf '%s\n' '$(call escape,$(test_var))' @printf '%s\n' '$(call escape,$(composite_var))'