The string returned by $(filter-out ...) does not contain any leading or trailing spaces. So, only the space that matters is the one between $(filter-out $(PHONY),$?) and $(filter-out $(PHONY) $(wildcard $^),$^) By removing it from the code, we can save $(strip ...) evaluation. This refactoring is possible because $(any-prereq) is only passed to the first argument of $(if ...), so we are only interested in whether it is empty or not. This is also the prerequisite for the next commit. Signed-off-by: Masahiro Yamada <yamada.masahiro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> --- scripts/Kbuild.include | 4 ++-- 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) diff --git a/scripts/Kbuild.include b/scripts/Kbuild.include index 4bec04c89750..0fa93f6de0b0 100644 --- a/scripts/Kbuild.include +++ b/scripts/Kbuild.include @@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ make-cmd = $(call escsq,$(subst $(pound),$$(pound),$(subst $$,$$$$,$(cmd_$(1)))) # Find any prerequisites that is newer than target or that does not exist. # PHONY targets skipped in both cases. -any-prereq = $(filter-out $(PHONY),$?) $(filter-out $(PHONY) $(wildcard $^),$^) +any-prereq = $(filter-out $(PHONY),$?)$(filter-out $(PHONY) $(wildcard $^),$^) # Execute command if command has changed or prerequisite(s) are updated. if_changed = $(if $(strip $(any-prereq) $(cmd-check)), \ @@ -274,7 +274,7 @@ ifeq ($(KBUILD_VERBOSE),2) why = \ $(if $(filter $@, $(PHONY)),- due to target is PHONY, \ $(if $(wildcard $@), \ - $(if $(strip $(any-prereq)),- due to: $(any-prereq), \ + $(if $(any-prereq),- due to: $(any-prereq), \ $(if $(cmd-check), \ $(if $(cmd_$@),- due to command line change, \ $(if $(filter $@, $(targets)), \ -- 2.17.1