It might be a bit tricker than expected to adapt to such minimalist system - whether it's a show-stopper or not is a different matter. I'm happy to test further (and I'll soon send similar reports for other packages). Regarding netbsd/mktemp - sorry for creating some confusion. I noticed gnulib was updated then reverted with some related changes, please let me know if there's a specific version to check. Examining 'mktemp' support on various systems, I see the following: === FreeBSD 10.1: mktemp [-d] [-q] [-t prefix] [-u] template ... (and) mktemp [-d] [-q] [-u] -t prefix Mac OS X: (same as FreeBSD) OpenBSD 5.8: mktemp [-dqtu] [-p directory] [template] NetBSD 7: mktemp [-dqu] [-p ] {-t prefix | template ...} Alpine (BusyBox): mktemp [-dt] [-p DIR] [TEMPLATE] OpenSolaris 5.10 mktemp [-dqtu] [-p prefix_dir] [template] OpenSolaris 5.11 mktemp [-dqtu] [-p prefix_dir] [--directory][--dry-run] [--help] [--quiet] [--suffix=SUFF] [--tmpdir[=DIR]] [tmeplate] AIX 7: (missing?) === Specifically, it seems the '-t' parameter for NetBSD requires a parameter, while on most other systems it is just a flag. This makes the order of the parameters effect the outcome. In './tests/init.sh', the function 'mktempd_' has code like this: # First, try to use mktemp. d=`unset TMPDIR; { mktemp -d -t -p "$destdir_" "$template_"; } 2>/dev/null` \ || fail=1 Trying it on NetBSD yields unexpected results: $ mktemp -d -t -p destdir template.XXXXXX /tmp/-p.xHVlMf3f destdir template.xUCbsO While if we just change the order, and make '-t' the last parameter, it would "just work" (assuming TMPDIR is unset). $ mktemp -d -p destdir -t template.XXXXXX destdir/template.XXXXXX.SEvvNSKE An attempt to make a portable version: d=`unset TMPDIR; { mktemp -d -p "$destdir_" -t "$template_"; } 2>/dev/null` \ || e=`TMPDIR="$destdir_" mktemp -d -t "$template_" 2>/dev/null` \ || fail=1 Running the attached script on various systems gives: === Linux: with-p foo/bar.nNBIHo (=alpine/busybox) Linux: with-p foo/bar.Da60cG (=debian/gnu-coreutils) FreeBSD: no-p foo/bar.XXXXXX.60xAkfa8 NetBSD: with-p foo/bar.XXXXXX.myeDmTST Darwin: no-p foo/bar.XXXXXX.xKNmTTzN OpenBSD: with-p foo/bar.zVf8w1 SunOS: with-p foo/bar.rtai1S (=OpenSolaris 5.10) SunOS: with-p foo/bar.rXa4bY (=OpenSolaris 5.11) ===