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)) cwd := $(shell basename -- "$$( pwd )") simple_var := Simple value composite_var := Composite value - $(simple_var) - $(cwd) .PHONY: test test: @printf '%s\n' '$(call escape,$(cwd))' @printf '%s\n' '$(call escape,$(composite_var))'