diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 67bea110..7569479c 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -12,18 +12,17 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-ROOT_DIR_RELATIVE := .
+export REPO_ROOT := $(shell git rev-parse --show-toplevel)
 
-include $(ROOT_DIR_RELATIVE)/common.mk
+include $(REPO_ROOT)/common.mk
 
 # Directories
-TOOLS_DIR := hack/tools
+TOOLS_DIR := $(REPO_ROOT)/hack/tools
 TOOLS_DIR_DEPS := $(TOOLS_DIR)/go.sum $(TOOLS_DIR)/go.mod $(TOOLS_DIR)/Makefile
 TOOLS_BIN_DIR := $(TOOLS_DIR)/bin
 BIN_DIR ?= bin
 RELEASE_DIR ?= out
 
-export REPO_ROOT := $(shell git rev-parse --show-toplevel)
 GH_REPO ?= kubernetes-sigs/cluster-api-provider-cloudstack
 
 # Binaries
@@ -86,7 +85,7 @@ all: build
 ## --------------------------------------
 
 .PHONY: binaries
-binaries: $(CONTROLLER_GEN KUSTOMIZE) $(GOLANGCI_LINT) $(STATIC_CHECK) $(GINKGO_V1) $(GINKGO_V2) $(MOCKGEN) $(KUSTOMIZE) managers # Builds and installs all binaries
+binaries: $(CONTROLLER_GEN) $(GOLANGCI_LINT) $(STATIC_CHECK) $(GINKGO_V1) $(GINKGO_V2) $(MOCKGEN) $(KUSTOMIZE) managers # Builds and installs all binaries
 
 .PHONY: managers
 managers:
@@ -247,7 +246,8 @@ cluster-api/tilt-settings.json: hack/tilt-settings.json cluster-api
 ## --------------------------------------
 ## Tests
 ## --------------------------------------
-export KUBEBUILDER_ASSETS=$(REPO_ROOT)/$(TOOLS_BIN_DIR)
+
+export KUBEBUILDER_ASSETS=$(TOOLS_BIN_DIR)
 DEEPCOPY_GEN_TARGETS_TEST=$(shell find test/fakes -type d -name "fakes" -exec echo {}\/zz_generated.deepcopy.go \;)
 DEEPCOPY_GEN_INPUTS_TEST=$(shell find test/fakes/* -name "*zz_generated*" -prune -o -type f -print)
 .PHONY: generate-deepcopy-test
diff --git a/common.mk b/common.mk
index 5c1675ef..c3a081b9 100644
--- a/common.mk
+++ b/common.mk
@@ -12,16 +12,16 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-include $(ROOT_DIR_RELATIVE)/versions.mk
+include $(REPO_ROOT)/versions.mk
 
 # Ensure Make is run with bash shell as some syntax below is bash-specific
 SHELL:=bash
 .ONESHELL:
-.SHELLFLAGS := -eu -o pipefail -c
+.SHELLFLAGS := -euc # No spaces allowed in linux SHELLFLAGS, so omitting -o pipefail
 .DELETE_ON_ERROR:
 MAKEFLAGS += --no-builtin-rules
 
-TOOLS_DIR := $(ROOT_DIR_RELATIVE)/hack/tools
+TOOLS_DIR := $(REPO_ROOT)/hack/tools
 TOOLS_DIR_DEPS := $(TOOLS_DIR)/go.sum $(TOOLS_DIR)/go.mod $(TOOLS_DIR)/Makefile
 TOOLS_BIN_DIR := $(TOOLS_DIR)/bin
 UID := $(shell id -u)
diff --git a/docs/book/Makefile b/docs/book/Makefile
index 99b00565..d9e9b970 100644
--- a/docs/book/Makefile
+++ b/docs/book/Makefile
@@ -12,8 +12,9 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-ROOT_DIR_RELATIVE := ../..
-include $(ROOT_DIR_RELATIVE)/common.mk
+export REPO_ROOT := $(shell git rev-parse --show-toplevel)
+
+include $(REPO_ROOT)/common.mk
 
 # Directories.
 MDBOOK := $(TOOLS_BIN_DIR)/mdbook
diff --git a/hack/tools/Makefile b/hack/tools/Makefile
index 300aebbb..00a47722 100644
--- a/hack/tools/Makefile
+++ b/hack/tools/Makefile
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-ROOT_DIR_RELATIVE := ../..
-include $(ROOT_DIR_RELATIVE)/common.mk
+export REPO_ROOT := $(shell git rev-parse --show-toplevel)
+include $(REPO_ROOT)/common.mk
 
 UNAME := $(shell uname -s)