diff --git a/make/development-tools.mk b/make/development-tools.mk
index c5f23db4..36302e67 100644
--- a/make/development-tools.mk
+++ b/make/development-tools.mk
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ $(D)/strace: $(ARCHIVE)/strace-$(STRACE_VER).tar.xz | $(TARGET_DIR)
 	$(CHDIR)/strace-$(STRACE_VER); \
 		$(CONFIGURE) \
 			--prefix= \
-			--mandir=$(BUILD_TMP)/.remove \
+			--mandir=/.remove \
 			--enable-silent-rules \
 			; \
 		$(MAKE) all; \
@@ -99,8 +99,8 @@ $(D)/gdb: $(D)/zlib $(D)/libncurses $(ARCHIVE)/gdb-$(GDB_VER).tar.xz | $(TARGET_
 	$(CHDIR)/gdb-$(GDB_VER); \
 		$(CONFIGURE) \
 			--prefix= \
-			--mandir=$(BUILD_TMP)/.remove \
-			--infodir=$(BUILD_TMP)/.remove \
+			--mandir=/.remove \
+			--infodir=/.remove \
 			--disable-binutils \
 			--disable-werror \
 			--with-curses \
diff --git a/make/environment-build.mk b/make/environment-build.mk
index 5bc82aed..fa25b013 100644
--- a/make/environment-build.mk
+++ b/make/environment-build.mk
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ REWRITE_PKGCONF        = $(REWRITE_CONFIG_RULES) $(PKG_CONFIG_PATH)
 # unpack tarballs, clean up
 UNTAR = tar -C $(BUILD_TMP) -xf $(ARCHIVE)
 UNZIP = unzip -d $(BUILD_TMP) -o $(ARCHIVE)
-REMOVE = rm -rf $(BUILD_TMP)/.remove $(TARGET_DIR)/.remove $(BUILD_TMP)
+REMOVE = rm -rf $(TARGET_DIR)/.remove $(BUILD_TMP)
 PATCH = patch -p1 -i $(PATCHES)
 
 # wget tarballs into archive directory