title: Possible bug in GNU make 4.3?
body: <p>I have the following line in the Makefile of a software I'm working with:</p>
  
  <pre><code>VERSION = $(subst $(space),.,$(wordlist 1,2,$(subst ., ,$(patsubst v%,%,$(shell cat VERSION)))))
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Where <code>VERSION</code> is a file containing the exact version of the software (f.e <code>3.12.3</code>) </p>
  
  <p>I'm not such an expert in Makefiles but this line should return the major version (without the <code>v</code> indicating TAG), in this case, 3.12. And it does, or, at least, it does it when you run it with GNU make &lt;= 4.2 </p>
  
  <p>I've recently updated to make 4.3 (because I use a rolling release, Arch Linux) and then executing the same line in my makefile, I got <code>3 12.</code> instead of <code>3.12</code></p>
  
  <p>I've been reading Make changelog in order to check if there is any change in something related to the line in charge of retrieving the major version but I can't find where the problem is.</p>
  
  <p>I've confirmed that the problem appears only with GNU make 4.3 (it works with make 4.2) and I'm wondering if there is a bug or I am missing something.</p>
  
  <p>Maybe someone could help me.</p>
  
  <p>Best regards</p>