This is PR/1700; it's fixed in the source tree. You can find a patch in
the problem report resolution (see the README file for information on
accessing the online bug database for GNU make).
A release 3.79.1 with this and other issues resolved will be available
shortly.
--
This has been found and fixed in the sources a while ago (although it
was originally reported as a problem with strip and the Gnome sources, I
believe). There's a report in the bug database (see the README file)
and a partial patch which may or may not address your usage; the actual
fix I made wa
