diff -r 2c04d2102534 Makefile.pre.in
--- a/Makefile.pre.in   Sat Dec 01 19:34:16 2012 +0100
+++ b/Makefile.pre.in   Sun Dec 02 06:05:56 2012 +0000
@@ -478,11 +478,12 @@
        $(RUNSHARED) $(PYTHON_FOR_BUILD) -S -m sysconfig --generate-posix-vars
 
 # Build the shared modules
-# MAKEFLAGS are sorted and normalized. Under GNU make the 's' for
+# Under GNU make, MAKEFLAGS are sorted and normalized; the 's' for
 # -s, --silent or --quiet is always the first char.
+# Under BSD make, MAKEFLAGS might be " -s -v x=y".
 sharedmods: $(BUILDPYTHON) pybuilddir.txt
        @case "$$MAKEFLAGS" in \
-           s*) quiet="-q";; \
+           *\ -s*|s*) quiet="-q";; \
            *) quiet="";; \
        esac; \
        $(RUNSHARED) CC='$(CC)' LDSHARED='$(BLDSHARED)' OPT='$(OPT)' \