I found that I had an old version of make in my path (3.80). If I use the proper /usr/bin/make (which is 3.81, from your 3.81-2 package) then make-kpkg passes.
Given that my old make is not from Debian, feel free to close this bug again, unless you want to support the old make version. Sorry for the noise. Hamish -- Hamish Moffatt VK3SB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]