@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.\"	$NetBSD: make.1,v 1.206 2012/08/30 22:35:37 wiz Exp $
+.\"	$NetBSD: make.1,v 1.207 2012/09/17 01:23:45 sjg Exp $
 .\"
 .\" Copyright (c) 1990, 1993
 .\"	The Regents of the University of California.  All rights reserved.
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 .\"
 .\"	from: @(#)make.1	8.4 (Berkeley) 3/19/94
 .\"
-.Dd August 30, 2012
+.Dd September 16, 2012
 .Dt MAKE 1
 .Os
 .Sh NAME
@@ -2042,6 +2042,13 @@
 To be compatible with Makefiles that do this, one can use
 .Fl B
 to disable this behavior.
+.Pp
+In compatability mode, each command is run in a separate process.
+If the command contains any shell meta characters
+.Pq Ql #=|^(){};&<>*?[]:$`\e\en
+it will be passed to the shell, otherwise
+.Nm
+will attempt direct execution.
 .Sh SEE ALSO
 .Xr mkdep 1
 .Sh HISTORY