diff --git a/samples/bpf/Makefile b/samples/bpf/Makefile
index 12b7304..b1e3228 100644
--- a/samples/bpf/Makefile
+++ b/samples/bpf/Makefile
@@ -119,10 +119,10 @@
 
 # Trick to allow make to be run from this directory
 all:
-	$(MAKE) -C ../../ $$PWD/
+	$(MAKE) -C ../../ $(CURDIR)/
 
 clean:
-	$(MAKE) -C ../../ M=$$PWD clean
+	$(MAKE) -C ../../ M=$(CURDIR) clean
 	@rm -f *~
 
 # Verify LLVM compiler tools are available and bpf target is supported by llc
diff --git a/samples/connector/Makefile b/samples/connector/Makefile
index 04b9622..91762d9 100644
--- a/samples/connector/Makefile
+++ b/samples/connector/Makefile
@@ -13,4 +13,4 @@
 all: modules
 
 modules clean:
-	$(MAKE) -C ../.. SUBDIRS=$(PWD) $@
+	$(MAKE) -C ../.. SUBDIRS=$(CURDIR) $@
diff --git a/tools/build/Makefile b/tools/build/Makefile
index 8332959..aaf7ed3 100644
--- a/tools/build/Makefile
+++ b/tools/build/Makefile
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 ifeq ($(srctree),)
-srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(shell pwd)))
+srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(CURDIR)))
 srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(srctree)))
 endif
 
diff --git a/tools/gpio/Makefile b/tools/gpio/Makefile
index 250a891..b440153 100644
--- a/tools/gpio/Makefile
+++ b/tools/gpio/Makefile
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 bindir ?= /usr/bin
 
 ifeq ($(srctree),)
-srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(shell pwd)))
+srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(CURDIR)))
 srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(srctree)))
 endif
 
diff --git a/tools/lib/api/Makefile b/tools/lib/api/Makefile
index 0a6fda9..adba83b 100644
--- a/tools/lib/api/Makefile
+++ b/tools/lib/api/Makefile
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 include ../../scripts/utilities.mak		# QUIET_CLEAN
 
 ifeq ($(srctree),)
-srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(shell pwd)))
+srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(CURDIR)))
 srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(srctree)))
 srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(srctree)))
 #$(info Determined 'srctree' to be $(srctree))
diff --git a/tools/lib/bpf/Makefile b/tools/lib/bpf/Makefile
index 62d89d5..e2efddf 100644
--- a/tools/lib/bpf/Makefile
+++ b/tools/lib/bpf/Makefile
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 MAKEFLAGS += --no-print-directory
 
 ifeq ($(srctree),)
-srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(shell pwd)))
+srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(CURDIR)))
 srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(srctree)))
 srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(srctree)))
 #$(info Determined 'srctree' to be $(srctree))
diff --git a/tools/lib/lockdep/Makefile b/tools/lib/lockdep/Makefile
index 1d57af5..3bc0ef9 100644
--- a/tools/lib/lockdep/Makefile
+++ b/tools/lib/lockdep/Makefile
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@
 endif
 
 ifeq ($(srctree),)
-srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(shell pwd)))
+srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(CURDIR)))
 srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(srctree)))
 srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(srctree)))
 #$(info Determined 'srctree' to be $(srctree))
diff --git a/tools/lib/subcmd/Makefile b/tools/lib/subcmd/Makefile
index ce4b7e5..3f8cc44 100644
--- a/tools/lib/subcmd/Makefile
+++ b/tools/lib/subcmd/Makefile
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 include ../../scripts/utilities.mak		# QUIET_CLEAN
 
 ifeq ($(srctree),)
-srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(shell pwd)))
+srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(CURDIR)))
 srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(srctree)))
 srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(srctree)))
 #$(info Determined 'srctree' to be $(srctree))
diff --git a/tools/lib/traceevent/Makefile b/tools/lib/traceevent/Makefile
index 7851df1..938f73c 100644
--- a/tools/lib/traceevent/Makefile
+++ b/tools/lib/traceevent/Makefile
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@
 endif
 
 ifeq ($(srctree),)
-srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(shell pwd)))
+srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(CURDIR)))
 srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(srctree)))
 srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(srctree)))
 #$(info Determined 'srctree' to be $(srctree))
diff --git a/tools/objtool/Makefile b/tools/objtool/Makefile
index 041b493..27e019c 100644
--- a/tools/objtool/Makefile
+++ b/tools/objtool/Makefile
@@ -11,12 +11,12 @@
 AR = ar
 
 ifeq ($(srctree),)
-srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(shell pwd)))
+srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(CURDIR)))
 srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(srctree)))
 endif
 
 SUBCMD_SRCDIR		= $(srctree)/tools/lib/subcmd/
-LIBSUBCMD_OUTPUT	= $(if $(OUTPUT),$(OUTPUT),$(PWD)/)
+LIBSUBCMD_OUTPUT	= $(if $(OUTPUT),$(OUTPUT),$(CURDIR)/)
 LIBSUBCMD		= $(LIBSUBCMD_OUTPUT)libsubcmd.a
 
 OBJTOOL    := $(OUTPUT)objtool
diff --git a/tools/perf/Makefile.perf b/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
index 982d643..5bdef73 100644
--- a/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
+++ b/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@
 export LC_COLLATE LC_NUMERIC
 
 ifeq ($(srctree),)
-srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(shell pwd)))
+srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(CURDIR)))
 srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(srctree)))
 #$(info Determined 'srctree' to be $(srctree))
 endif
diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/make b/tools/perf/tests/make
index 143f4d5..3482e9f 100644
--- a/tools/perf/tests/make
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/make
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
 export LC_COLLATE LC_NUMERIC
 
 ifeq ($(srctree),)
-srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(shell pwd)))
+srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(CURDIR)))
 srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(srctree)))
 #$(info Determined 'srctree' to be $(srctree))
 endif
diff --git a/tools/power/cpupower/Makefile b/tools/power/cpupower/Makefile
index 8358863..d6e1c02 100644
--- a/tools/power/cpupower/Makefile
+++ b/tools/power/cpupower/Makefile
@@ -108,9 +108,6 @@
 # Now we set up the build system
 #
 
-# set up PWD so that older versions of make will work with our build.
-PWD = $(shell pwd)
-
 GMO_FILES = ${shell for HLANG in ${LANGUAGES}; do echo $(OUTPUT)po/$$HLANG.gmo; done;}
 
 export CROSS CC AR STRIP RANLIB CFLAGS LDFLAGS LIB_OBJS
diff --git a/tools/power/cpupower/debug/kernel/Makefile b/tools/power/cpupower/debug/kernel/Makefile
index 96b146f..a8a6f8e 100644
--- a/tools/power/cpupower/debug/kernel/Makefile
+++ b/tools/power/cpupower/debug/kernel/Makefile
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 obj-m	:=
 
 KDIR	:= /lib/modules/$(shell uname -r)/build
-PWD		:= $(shell pwd)
 KMISC   := /lib/modules/$(shell uname -r)/cpufrequtils/
 
 ifeq ("$(CONFIG_X86_TSC)", "y")
@@ -9,7 +8,7 @@
 endif
 
 default:
-	$(MAKE) -C $(KDIR) M=$(PWD)
+	$(MAKE) -C $(KDIR) M=$(CURDIR)
 
 clean:
 	- rm -rf *.o *.ko .tmp-versions .*.cmd .*.mod.* *.mod.c