diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index eca59dae..20f2a951 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+2014-10-28  Giuseppe Scrivano  <gscrivan@redhat.com>
+
+	* Makefile.am: Replace $FOO with @VAR@.
+
 2013-10-22  Ángel González <keisial@gmail.com>
 
 	* bootstrap.conf (gnulib_modules): Add module xstrndup.
diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index fe7a4cb9..a059794f 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 # as that of the covered work.
 
 #
-# Version: $(VERSION)
+# Version: @VERSION@
 #
 
 
diff --git a/doc/ChangeLog b/doc/ChangeLog
index cbccee9c..d071efd1 100644
--- a/doc/ChangeLog
+++ b/doc/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+2014-10-28  Giuseppe Scrivano  <gscrivan@redhat.com>
+
+	* Makefile.am: Replace $FOO with @VAR@.
+
 2014-09-08  Darshit Shah  <darnir@gmail.com>
 
 	* wget.texi (symbolic links): Update documentation of retr-symlinks to
diff --git a/doc/Makefile.am b/doc/Makefile.am
index af221fbd..b90f68b1 100644
--- a/doc/Makefile.am
+++ b/doc/Makefile.am
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 # along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
 #
-# Version: $(VERSION)
+# Version: @VERSION@
 #
 
 # Program to convert DVI files to PostScript
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ manext     = 1
 RM = rm -f
 
 TEXI2POD     = $(srcdir)/texi2pod.pl
+POD2MAN      = @POD2MAN@
 MAN          = wget.$(manext)
 WGETRC       = $(sysconfdir)/wgetrc
 SAMPLERCTEXI = sample.wgetrc.munged_for_texi_inclusion
@@ -38,7 +39,7 @@ SAMPLERCTEXI = sample.wgetrc.munged_for_texi_inclusion
 
 man_MANS = $(MAN)
 
-all: wget.info $(COMMENT_IF_NO_POD2MAN)$(MAN)
+all: wget.info @COMMENT_IF_NO_POD2MAN@$(MAN)
 
 everything: all wget_us.ps wget_a4.ps wget_toc.html
 
@@ -56,7 +57,7 @@ wget.pod: $(srcdir)/wget.texi version.texi
 	$(TEXI2POD) -D VERSION="$(VERSION)" $(srcdir)/wget.texi $@
 
 $(MAN): wget.pod
-	$(POD2MAN) --center="GNU Wget" --release="GNU Wget $(VERSION)" $? > $@
+	$(POD2MAN) --center="GNU Wget" --release="GNU Wget @VERSION@" $? > $@
 
 #wget.cat: $(MAN)
 #	nroff -man $? > $@
@@ -75,10 +76,10 @@ wget_toc.html: $(srcdir)/wget.texi
 #
 
 # install all the documentation
-install-data-local: install.wgetrc $(COMMENT_IF_NO_POD2MAN)install.man
+install-data-local: install.wgetrc @COMMENT_IF_NO_POD2MAN@install.man
 
 # uninstall all the documentation
-uninstall-local: $(COMMENT_IF_NO_POD2MAN)uninstall.man
+uninstall-local: @COMMENT_IF_NO_POD2MAN@uninstall.man
 
 
 # install man page, creating install directory if necessary
diff --git a/src/ChangeLog b/src/ChangeLog
index d0f753f4..4edb0fd3 100644
--- a/src/ChangeLog
+++ b/src/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+2014-10-28  Giuseppe Scrivano  <gscrivan@redhat.com>
+
+	* Makefile.am: Replace $FOO with @VAR@.
+
 2014-09-08  Darshit Shah  <darnir@gmail.com>
 
 	* ftp.c (ftp_retrieve_glob): Also check for invalid entries along with
diff --git a/src/Makefile.am b/src/Makefile.am
index 3a43aa92..a5db9fd6 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/Makefile.am
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 # as that of the covered work.
 
 #
-# Version: $(VERSION)
+# Version: @VERSION@
 #
 
 if IRI_IS_ENABLED
@@ -36,8 +36,8 @@ IRI_OBJ = iri.c
 endif
 
 # The following line is losing on some versions of make!
-DEFS     += -DSYSTEM_WGETRC=\"$(sysconfdir)/wgetrc\" -DLOCALEDIR=\"$(localedir)\"
-LIBS     += $(LIBICONV) $(LIBINTL) $(LIB_CLOCK_GETTIME)
+DEFS     = @DEFS@ -DSYSTEM_WGETRC=\"$(sysconfdir)/wgetrc\" -DLOCALEDIR=\"$(localedir)\"
+LIBS     = @LIBICONV@ @LIBINTL@ @LIBS@ $(LIB_CLOCK_GETTIME)
 
 EXTRA_DIST = css.l css.c css_.c build_info.c.in
 
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ version.c:  $(wget_SOURCES) ../lib/libgnu.a
 	echo '/* version.c */' > $@
 	echo '/* Autogenerated by Makefile - DO NOT EDIT */' >> $@
 	echo '' >> $@
-	echo 'const char *version_string = "$(VERSION)";' >> $@
+	echo 'const char *version_string = "@VERSION@";' >> $@
 	echo 'const char *compilation_string = "'$(COMPILE)'";' \
 	    | $(ESCAPEQUOTE) >> $@
 	echo 'const char *link_string = "'$(CCLD) $(AM_CFLAGS) $(CFLAGS) \
diff --git a/tests/ChangeLog b/tests/ChangeLog
index c1f417d7..cf54f897 100644
--- a/tests/ChangeLog
+++ b/tests/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+2014-10-28  Giuseppe Scrivano  <gscrivan@redhat.com>
+
+	* Makefile.am: Replace $FOO with @VAR@.
+
 2014-10-06  Tim Ruehsen <tim.ruehsen@gmx.de>
 
 	* Test-iri.px: fixed encodings
diff --git a/tests/Makefile.am b/tests/Makefile.am
index 1248036a..094cea17 100644
--- a/tests/Makefile.am
+++ b/tests/Makefile.am
@@ -30,10 +30,9 @@
 # see http://www.gnu.org/software/automake/manual/html_node/Parallel-Test-Harness.html#Parallel-Test-Harness
 
 #
-# Version: $(VERSION)
+# Version: @VERSION@
 #
 
-
 ../src/wget$(EXEEXT):
 	cd ../src && $(MAKE) $(AM_MAKEFLAGS)
 
diff --git a/util/Makefile.am b/util/Makefile.am
index 83b9700d..188d00f6 100644
--- a/util/Makefile.am
+++ b/util/Makefile.am
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 # as that of the covered work.
 
 #
-# Version: $(VERSION)
+# Version: @VERSION@
 #
 
 EXTRA_DIST = README rmold.pl trunc.c