diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 2f5023e7..df60c2ce 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -60,8 +60,7 @@ README
 README.DOS
 README.OS2
 README.W32
-build.sh
-build.sh.in
+build.cfg
 config.ami
 config.h-vms
 config.h.W32
diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 310ce938..10e04c84 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ test_FILES =	tests/run_make_tests tests/run_make_tests.bat \
 		tests/mkshadow tests/jhelp.pl tests/guile.supp tests/README
 # test/scripts are added via dist-hook below.
 
-EXTRA_DIST =	ChangeLog README build.sh.in $(man_MANS) \
+EXTRA_DIST =	ChangeLog README build.sh build.cfg.in $(man_MANS) \
 		README.customs README.OS2 \
 		README.Amiga SCOPTIONS src/config.ami \
 		README.DOS builddos.bat src/configh.dos \
@@ -107,11 +107,6 @@ EXTRA_DIST =	ChangeLog README build.sh.in $(man_MANS) \
 		src/gmk-default.scm src/gmk-default.h \
 		$(mk_FILES) $(m4_FILES) $(test_FILES)
 
-
-# This is built during configure, but behind configure's back
-
-DISTCLEANFILES = build.sh
-
 # --------------- Generate the Guile default module content
 
 src/guile.$(OBJEXT): src/gmk-default.h
diff --git a/build.cfg.in b/build.cfg.in
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3daa65a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build.cfg.in
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+# Configuration for building GNU Make in the absence of any 'make' program.
+# @configure_input@
+
+# Copyright (C) 1993-2019 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+# This file is part of GNU Make.
+#
+# GNU Make is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
+# the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
+# Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later
+# version.
+#
+# GNU Make is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
+# WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
+# FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License for more
+# details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
+# this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+# See Makefile.in for comments describing these variables.
+
+top_srcdir='@top_srcdir@'
+
+prefix='@prefix@'
+exec_prefix=`eval echo @exec_prefix@`
+
+CC='@CC@'
+AR='@AR@'
+CFLAGS='@CFLAGS@ @GUILE_CFLAGS@'
+CPPFLAGS='@CPPFLAGS@'
+DEFS='@DEFS@'
+ARFLAGS='@ARFLAGS@'
+LDFLAGS='@AM_LDFLAGS@ @LDFLAGS@'
+ALLOCA='@ALLOCA@'
+LOADLIBES='@LIBS@ @GUILE_LIBS@ @LIBINTL@'
+REMOTE='@REMOTE@'
+OBJEXT='@OBJEXT@'
+EXEEXT='@EXEEXT@'
diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..7d288914
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,149 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# Shell script to build GNU Make in the absence of any 'make' program.
+
+# Copyright (C) 1993-2019 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+# This file is part of GNU Make.
+#
+# GNU Make is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
+# the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
+# Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later
+# version.
+#
+# GNU Make is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
+# WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
+# FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License for more
+# details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
+# this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+# Get configure-generated values
+. ./build.cfg
+
+: ${OUTDIR:=.}
+OUTLIB="$OUTDIR/lib"
+
+# Directory to find libraries in for '-lXXX'.
+libdir=$exec_prefix/lib
+# Directory to search by default for included makefiles.
+includedir=$prefix/include
+
+localedir=$prefix/share/locale
+
+defines="-DLOCALEDIR=\"$localedir\" -DLIBDIR=\"$libdir\" -DINCLUDEDIR=\"$includedir\""
+
+# Look up a make variable value.
+# It can handle simple recursion where variables are separate words.
+# Print the value to stdout.
+get_mk_var ()
+{
+  file=$1
+  var=$2
+
+  val=
+  v=$(sed -e :a -e '/\\$/N; s/\\\n//; ta' "$file" | sed -n "s=^ *$var *\= *==p")
+  for w in $v; do
+    case $w in
+      (\$[\(\{]*[\)\}]) w=${w#\$[\(\{]}; w=$(get_mk_var "$file" "${w%[\)\}]}") ;;
+    esac
+    val="${val:+$val }$w"
+  done
+
+  printf '%s\n' "$val"
+}
+
+# Compile source files.  Object files are put into $objs.
+compile ()
+{
+  objs=
+  for ofile in "$@"; do
+    file="${ofile%.$OBJEXT}.c"
+    echo "compiling $file..."
+    of="$OUTDIR/$ofile"
+    mkdir -p "${of%/*}"
+    $CC $cflags $CPPFLAGS $CFLAGS -c -o "$of" "$top_srcdir/$file"
+    objs="${objs:+$objs }$of"
+  done
+}
+
+# Use config.status to convert a .in file.  Output file is put into $out.
+# $out will be empty if no conversion was needed.
+convert ()
+{
+  out=
+  base=$1
+  var="GENERATE_$(echo $base | tr 'a-z./+' A-Z__X)"
+
+  # Is this file disabled?
+  grep "${var}_FALSE\"]=\"\"" config.status >/dev/null && return
+
+  # Not disabled, so create it
+  in="$top_srcdir/lib/$(echo ${base%.*}.in.${base##*.} | tr / _)"
+  out="$OUTLIB/$base"
+  mkdir -p "${out%/*}"
+
+  # First perform the normal replacements, using config.status
+  sed -e 's|@GUARD_PREFIX@|GL|g' \
+      -e 's/@GNULIB_UNISTD_H_GETOPT@/0/g' \
+      "$in" > "${out}_"
+  ./config.status --file "${out}__:${out}_"
+  int="${out}__"
+
+  # Then see if there any files we need to include.  Unfortunately there's no
+  # algorithmic conversion so we just have to hard-code it.
+  incls=$(sed -n 's/.*definitions* of \(_[^ $]*\).*/\1/p' "$in")
+
+  for inc in $incls; do
+    case $inc in
+      (_GL_FUNCDECL_RPL) fn=$(get_mk_var lib/Makefile CXXDEFS_H) ;;
+      (_GL_ARG_NONNULL)  fn=$(get_mk_var lib/Makefile ARG_NONNULL_H) ;;
+      (_GL_WARN_ON_USE)  fn=$(get_mk_var lib/Makefile WARN_ON_USE_H) ;;
+      (_Noreturn)        fn=$(get_mk_var lib/Makefile _NORETURN_H) ;;
+      (*) echo "Unknown file replacement: $inc"; exit 1 ;;
+    esac
+
+    fn="$top_srcdir/lib/${fn##*/}"
+    [ -f "$fn" ] || { echo "Missing file: $fn"; exit 1; }
+
+    sed "/definitions* of $inc/r $fn" "$int" > "${int}_"
+    int=${int}_
+  done
+
+  # Done!
+  mv "$int" "$out"
+}
+
+# Get source files provided from gnulib and convert to object files
+LIBOBJS=
+for lo in $( (get_mk_var lib/Makefile libgnu_a_OBJECTS; get_mk_var lib/Makefile libgnu_a_LIBADD) | sed "s=\$[\(\{]OBJEXT[\)\}]=$OBJEXT=g"); do
+  LIBOBJS="${LIBOBJS:+$LIBOBJS }lib/$lo"
+done
+
+# Get object files from the Makefile
+OBJS=$(get_mk_var Makefile make_OBJECTS | sed "s=\$[\(\{]OBJEXT[\)\}]=$OBJEXT=g")
+
+# Exit as soon as any command fails.
+set -e
+
+# Generate gnulib header files that would normally be created by make
+for b in $(get_mk_var lib/Makefile BUILT_SOURCES); do
+    convert $b
+done
+
+# Build the gnulib library
+cflags="$DEFS -I$OUTLIB -Ilib -I$top_srcdir/lib -I$OUTDIR/src -Isrc -I$top_srcdir/src"
+compile $LIBOBJS
+
+echo "creating libgnu.a..."
+$AR $ARFLAGS "$OUTLIB"/libgnu.a $objs
+
+# Compile the source files into those objects.
+cflags="$DEFS $defines -I$OUTDIR/src -Isrc -I$top_srcdir/src -I$OUTLIB -Ilib -I$top_srcdir/lib"
+compile $OBJS
+
+# Link all the objects together.
+echo "linking make..."
+$CC $CFLAGS $LDFLAGS -L"$OUTLIB" $objs -lgnu $LOADLIBES -o "$OUTDIR/makenew$EXEEXT"
+mv -f "$OUTDIR/makenew$EXEEXT" "$OUTDIR/make$EXEEXT"
+
+echo done.
diff --git a/build.template b/build.template
deleted file mode 100644
index 2eb2b630..00000000
--- a/build.template
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,114 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/sh
-# Shell script to build GNU Make in the absence of any 'make' program.
-# @configure_input@
-
-# Copyright (C) 1993-2019 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
-# This file is part of GNU Make.
-#
-# GNU Make is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
-# the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
-# Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later
-# version.
-#
-# GNU Make is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
-# WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
-# FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License for more
-# details.
-#
-# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
-# this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
-
-# See Makefile.in for comments describing these variables.
-
-LIBOBJDIR=lib/
-U=
-
-top_srcdir='@top_srcdir@'
-CC='@CC@'
-AR='@AR@'
-CFLAGS='@CFLAGS@ @GUILE_CFLAGS@'
-CPPFLAGS='@CPPFLAGS@'
-DEFS='@DEFS@'
-ARFLAGS='@ARFLAGS@'
-LDFLAGS='@AM_LDFLAGS@ @LDFLAGS@'
-ALLOCA='@ALLOCA@'
-LOADLIBES='@LIBS@ @GUILE_LIBS@ @LIBINTL@'
-REMOTE='@REMOTE@'
-OBJEXT='@OBJEXT@'
-EXEEXT='@EXEEXT@'
-
-# Common prefix for machine-independent installed files.
-prefix='@prefix@'
-# Common prefix for machine-dependent installed files.
-exec_prefix=`eval echo @exec_prefix@`
-# Directory to find libraries in for '-lXXX'.
-libdir=$exec_prefix/lib
-# Directory to search by default for included makefiles.
-includedir=$prefix/include
-
-localedir=$prefix/share/locale
-
-defines="-DLOCALEDIR=\"$localedir\" -DLIBDIR=\"$libdir\" -DINCLUDEDIR=\"$includedir\""
-
-# Look up a make variable value
-# It can handle very simple recursion, where variables are separate words
-get_mk_var ()
-{
-  file=$1
-  var=$2
-
-  val=
-  v=$(sed -e :a -e '/\\$/N; s/\\\n//; ta' "$file" | sed -n "s=^ *$var *\= *==p")
-  for w in $v; do
-      case $w in
-          (\$[\(\{]*[\)\}]) w=${w#\$[\(\{]}; w=$(get_mk_var "$file" "${w%[\)\}]}") ;;
-      esac
-      val="${val:+$val }$w"
-  done
-
-  printf %s "$val"
-}
-
-# Get source files provided from gnulib
-LIBOBJS=
-for lc in $(get_mk_var lib/Makefile libgnu_a_SOURCES); do
-  case $lc in
-    (*.c) LIBOBJS="${LIBOBJS:+$LIBOBJS }$LIBOBJDIR${lc%.c}.$OBJEXT" ;;
-    (*)   echo ignore $lc ;;
-  esac
-done
-
-compile ()
-{
-  objs=
-  for ofile in "$@"; do
-    file=${ofile%.$OBJEXT}.c
-    echo "compiling $file..."
-    mkdir -p _bldobj/${file%/*}
-    of=_bldobj/$ofile
-    $CC $defines $DEFS $CPPFLAGS $CFLAGS -c -o "$of" \
-      -Isrc -I"$top_srcdir"/src -Ilib -I"$top_srcdir"/lib "$top_srcdir/$file"
-    objs="${objs:+$objs }$of"
-  done
-}
-
-# Exit as soon as any command fails.
-set -e
-
-rm -rf _bldobj
-mkdir _bldobj
-
-# Build the gnulib library
-compile $LIBOBJS
-
-echo creating libgnu.a...
-$AR $ARFLAGS _bldobj/lib/libgnu.a $objs
-
-# Compile the source files into those objects.
-compile %objs% src/remote-$REMOTE.$OBJEXT
-
-# Link all the objects together.
-echo linking make...
-$CC $CFLAGS $LDFLAGS -L_bldobj/lib $objs -lgnu $LOADLIBES -o makenew$EXEEXT
-echo done
-mv -f makenew$EXEEXT make$EXEEXT
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 36422154..f843fdd4 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -492,7 +492,7 @@ AS_IF([test "x$make_cv_posix_spawn" = xno && test "x$user_posix_spawn" = xyes],
 ])
 
 # Specify what files are to be created.
-AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile lib/Makefile po/Makefile.in doc/Makefile \
+AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile build.cfg lib/Makefile po/Makefile.in doc/Makefile \
                  tests/config-flags.pm])
 # We don't need this: the standard automake output suffices for POSIX systems.
 #mk/Posix.mk
@@ -501,13 +501,6 @@ AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile lib/Makefile po/Makefile.in doc/Makefile \
 
 AC_OUTPUT
 
-# We only generate the build.sh if we have a build.sh.in; we won't have
-# one before we've created a distribution.
-AS_IF([test -f "$srcdir/build.sh.in"],
-[ ./config.status --file build.sh
-  chmod +x build.sh
-])
-
 dnl Local Variables:
 dnl comment-start: "dnl "
 dnl comment-end: ""
diff --git a/maintMakefile b/maintMakefile
index b47e7145..0a44a623 100644
--- a/maintMakefile
+++ b/maintMakefile
@@ -85,16 +85,6 @@ Basic.mk: Basic.mk.template .dep_segment Makefile
 	  $(word 2,$^) >>$@
 	chmod a-w $@
 
-# Construct build.sh.in
-#
-build.sh.in: build.template Makefile
-	rm -f $@
-	sed -e 's@%objs%@$(patsubst %.o,%.$${OBJEXT},$(filter-out src/remote-%,$(make_OBJECTS)))@g' \
-	  $< > $@
-	chmod a-w+x $@
-
-all: build.sh.in
-
 
 # Use automake to build a dependency list file, for Makebase.mk.
 #
@@ -266,9 +256,9 @@ $(CONFIG_CHECKS): checkcfg.%: distdir
 		$(AM_DISTCHECK_CONFIGURE_FLAGS) $(DISTCHECK_CONFIGURE_FLAGS)
 	exec >>'checkcfg.$*.log' 2>&1; set -x; \
 	   cd $(distdir)/_build \
-	&& ./build.sh \
-	&& ./make $(AM_MAKEFLAGS) check-local \
-	&& ./make $(AM_MAKEFLAGS) clean
+	&& OUTDIR=_bld ../build.sh \
+	&& _bld/make $(AM_MAKEFLAGS) check-local \
+	&& _bld/make $(AM_MAKEFLAGS) clean
 	exec >>'checkcfg.$*.log' 2>&1; set -x; \
 	   cd $(distdir)/_build \
 	&& $(NR_MAKE) $(AM_MAKEFLAGS) CFLAGS='$(AM_CFLAGS)' \
@@ -405,7 +395,7 @@ $(COV_BUILD_FILE): $(filter %.c %.h,$(DISTFILES))
 		CFLAGS='$(AM_CFLAGS)'
 	PATH="$${COVERITY_PATH:+$$COVERITY_PATH/bin:}$$PATH"; \
 	    cd '$(distdir)'/_build \
-		&& cov-build --dir cov-int ./build.sh
+		&& cov-build --dir cov-int ../build.sh
 	rm -f '$@'
 	(cd '$(distdir)'/_build && tar czf - cov-int) > '$@'