diff --git a/libbacktrace/ChangeLog b/libbacktrace/ChangeLog
index b26b78148cf6..9097401014bb 100644
--- a/libbacktrace/ChangeLog
+++ b/libbacktrace/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+2019-01-28  Tom de Vries  <tdevries@suse.de>
+
+	* Makefile.am (xcoff_%.c): Generate sed result into temporary file.
+	Use $< to access prerequisite.
+	* Makefile.in: Regenerate.
+
 2019-01-25  Nathan Sidwell  <nathan@acm.org>
 
 	* elf.c (elf_add): Pass "" filename to recursive call with
diff --git a/libbacktrace/Makefile.am b/libbacktrace/Makefile.am
index 997a535dff45..0d5b3193e254 100644
--- a/libbacktrace/Makefile.am
+++ b/libbacktrace/Makefile.am
@@ -108,8 +108,9 @@ xcoff_%.c: xcoff.c
 	REPLACE='#undef BACKTRACE_XCOFF_SIZE\
 	#define BACKTRACE_XCOFF_SIZE'; \
 	$(SED) "s/^$$SEARCH\$$/$$REPLACE $*/" \
-		$(srcdir)/xcoff.c \
-		> $@
+		$< \
+		> $@.tmp
+	mv $@.tmp $@
 
 test_elf_SOURCES = test_format.c testlib.c
 test_elf_LDADD = libbacktrace_noformat.la elf.lo
diff --git a/libbacktrace/Makefile.in b/libbacktrace/Makefile.in
index f04577066f81..b25ac92aeda0 100644
--- a/libbacktrace/Makefile.in
+++ b/libbacktrace/Makefile.in
@@ -1754,8 +1754,9 @@ uninstall-am:
 @NATIVE_TRUE@	REPLACE='#undef BACKTRACE_XCOFF_SIZE\
 @NATIVE_TRUE@	#define BACKTRACE_XCOFF_SIZE'; \
 @NATIVE_TRUE@	$(SED) "s/^$$SEARCH\$$/$$REPLACE $*/" \
-@NATIVE_TRUE@		$(srcdir)/xcoff.c \
-@NATIVE_TRUE@		> $@
+@NATIVE_TRUE@		$< \
+@NATIVE_TRUE@		> $@.tmp
+@NATIVE_TRUE@	mv $@.tmp $@
 
 @NATIVE_TRUE@instrumented_alloc.lo: alloc.c