diff --git a/debian/rules b/debian/rules
index 95b64fe..03df872 100755
--- a/debian/rules
+++ b/debian/rules
@@ -4,11 +4,11 @@
 PAREN = )
 
 # Read the first line of debian/changelog just once
-CHANGELOG_LINE := $(shell head -n1 debian/changelog)
+CHANGELOG_LINE = $(shell head -n1 debian/changelog)
 
 # Extract versions
-BEEGFS_VERSION := $(shell echo "$(CHANGELOG_LINE)" | awk -F'[()]' '{print $$2}')
-BEEGFS_MAJOR   := $(shell echo "$(CHANGELOG_LINE)" | awk -F'[()]' '{split($$2,a,"."); print a[1]}')
+BEEGFS_VERSION = $(shell echo "$(CHANGELOG_LINE)" | awk -F'[()]' '{print $$2}')
+BEEGFS_MAJOR   = $(shell echo "$(CHANGELOG_LINE)" | awk -F'[()]' '{split($$2,a,"."); print a[1]}')
 
 # Print them when make runs
 $(info BEEGFS_VERSION = $(BEEGFS_VERSION))