Empty variable treated as undefined

If a variable has an empty value ifndef will enter the true branch. > make EMPTY=0 all echo anything anything > make EMPTY=1 all makefile:12: *** variable is defined.. Stop. > cat makefile ifeq (1,${EMPTY}) VAR= else VAR=anything endif ifndef VAR VAR=${error variable is defined.} endi

bug when examining make file

icebox:/tmp> touch test.src icebox:/tmp> !m make --question -f t.make -f test.make test.make main.c:1678: failed assertion `BOGUS_UPDATE_STATUS' Abort icebox:/tmp> cat t.make test.make: @echo need to make test.make icebox:/tmp> cat test.make test.make: test.src icebox:/tmp> cat test.src