diff --git a/appliance/Makefile.am b/appliance/Makefile.am
index b8fe648c4..59589971b 100644
--- a/appliance/Makefile.am
+++ b/appliance/Makefile.am
@@ -15,6 +15,9 @@
 # along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
 # Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
 
+# Old RHEL 5 autoconf doesn't have builddir.
+builddir ?= .
+
 include $(top_srcdir)/subdir-rules.mk
 
 EXTRA_DIST = \
diff --git a/gobject/docs/Makefile.am b/gobject/docs/Makefile.am
index f43ec9cd7..5aadef125 100644
--- a/gobject/docs/Makefile.am
+++ b/gobject/docs/Makefile.am
@@ -15,6 +15,12 @@
 # along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
 # Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
 
+# Old RHEL 5 autoconf doesn't have builddir.
+builddir ?= .
+
+# Old RHEL 5 autoconf doesn't have abs_srcdir.
+abs_srcdir ?= $(shell cd $(top_srcdir)/gobject/docs && pwd)
+
 # The name of the module, e.g. 'glib'.
 DOC_MODULE=guestfs
 
diff --git a/inspector/Makefile.am b/inspector/Makefile.am
index 3e299417d..00300a093 100644
--- a/inspector/Makefile.am
+++ b/inspector/Makefile.am
@@ -15,6 +15,9 @@
 # along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
 # Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
 
+# Old RHEL 5 autoconf doesn't have builddir.
+builddir ?= .
+
 include $(top_srcdir)/subdir-rules.mk
 
 EXAMPLE_XML = \
diff --git a/java/Makefile.am b/java/Makefile.am
index 2a8b77b8b..613aac922 100644
--- a/java/Makefile.am
+++ b/java/Makefile.am
@@ -15,13 +15,13 @@
 # along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
 # Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
 
+# Old RHEL 5 autoconf doesn't have builddir.
+builddir ?= .
+
 include $(top_srcdir)/subdir-rules.mk
 
 java_prefix = com/redhat/et/libguestfs
 
-# Old RHEL 5 autoconf doesn't have builddir.
-builddir ?= $(top_builddir)/java
-
 generator_built = \
 	Makefile.inc \
 	$(java_built_sources) \
diff --git a/ocaml/Makefile.am b/ocaml/Makefile.am
index 8c742a22d..f22f3f4cc 100644
--- a/ocaml/Makefile.am
+++ b/ocaml/Makefile.am
@@ -15,6 +15,12 @@
 # along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
 # Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
 
+# Old RHEL 5 autoconf doesn't have builddir.
+builddir ?= .
+
+# Old RHEL 5 autoconf doesn't have abs_srcdir.
+abs_srcdir ?= $(shell cd $(top_srcdir)/ocaml && pwd)
+
 include $(top_srcdir)/subdir-rules.mk
 
 generator_built = \
diff --git a/php/Makefile.am b/php/Makefile.am
index 7652b66ee..220f13a9c 100644
--- a/php/Makefile.am
+++ b/php/Makefile.am
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@
 
 include $(top_srcdir)/subdir-rules.mk
 
+# Old RHEL 5 autoconf doesn't have abs_srcdir.
+abs_srcdir ?= $(shell cd $(top_srcdir)/php && pwd)
+
 generator_built = \
 	extension/php_guestfs_php.h \
 	extension/guestfs_php.c
diff --git a/po/Makefile.am b/po/Makefile.am
index 14adb3aba..141896a32 100644
--- a/po/Makefile.am
+++ b/po/Makefile.am
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@
 
 include $(top_srcdir)/subdir-rules.mk
 
+# Old RHEL 5 autoconf doesn't have abs_srcdir.
+abs_srcdir ?= $(shell cd $(top_srcdir)/po && pwd)
+
 DOMAIN = $(PACKAGE_NAME)
 COPYRIGHT_HOLDER = Red Hat Inc.
 MSGID_BUGS_ADDRESS = https://bugzilla.redhat.com/enter_bug.cgi?component=libguestfs&product=Virtualization+Tools
diff --git a/python/Makefile.am b/python/Makefile.am
index 5931e2e4f..c6c1b1df8 100644
--- a/python/Makefile.am
+++ b/python/Makefile.am
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 # Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
 
 # Old RHEL 5 autoconf doesn't have builddir.
-builddir ?= $(top_builddir)/python
+builddir ?= .
 
 include $(top_srcdir)/subdir-rules.mk
 
diff --git a/resize/Makefile.am b/resize/Makefile.am
index 00f5e3502..8d87ab97b 100644
--- a/resize/Makefile.am
+++ b/resize/Makefile.am
@@ -15,6 +15,12 @@
 # along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
 # Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
 
+# Old RHEL 5 autoconf doesn't have builddir.
+builddir ?= .
+
+# Old RHEL 5 autoconf doesn't have abs_srcdir.
+abs_srcdir ?= $(shell cd $(top_srcdir)/resize && pwd)
+
 include $(top_srcdir)/subdir-rules.mk
 
 EXTRA_DIST = \
diff --git a/ruby/Makefile.am b/ruby/Makefile.am
index c4b680f68..9073ad7d7 100644
--- a/ruby/Makefile.am
+++ b/ruby/Makefile.am
@@ -15,6 +15,9 @@
 # along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
 # Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
 
+# Old RHEL 5 autoconf doesn't have builddir.
+builddir ?= .
+
 include $(top_srcdir)/subdir-rules.mk
 
 generator_built = \
diff --git a/sparsify/Makefile.am b/sparsify/Makefile.am
index 72cb2bb38..f4002e3e6 100644
--- a/sparsify/Makefile.am
+++ b/sparsify/Makefile.am
@@ -17,6 +17,12 @@
 
 include $(top_srcdir)/subdir-rules.mk
 
+# Old RHEL 5 autoconf doesn't have builddir.
+builddir ?= .
+
+# Old RHEL 5 autoconf doesn't have abs_srcdir.
+abs_srcdir ?= $(shell cd $(top_srcdir)/sparsify && pwd)
+
 EXTRA_DIST = \
 	$(SOURCES) \
 	virt-sparsify.pod \
diff --git a/sysprep/Makefile.am b/sysprep/Makefile.am
index fff8e648a..6fd2b87b5 100644
--- a/sysprep/Makefile.am
+++ b/sysprep/Makefile.am
@@ -15,6 +15,12 @@
 # along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
 # Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
 
+# Old RHEL 5 autoconf doesn't have builddir.
+builddir ?= .
+
+# Old RHEL 5 autoconf doesn't have abs_srcdir.
+abs_srcdir ?= $(shell cd $(top_srcdir)/sysprep && pwd)
+
 include $(top_srcdir)/subdir-rules.mk
 
 EXTRA_DIST = \
diff --git a/tests/data/Makefile.am b/tests/data/Makefile.am
index 85e1f3922..fbf74d8b9 100644
--- a/tests/data/Makefile.am
+++ b/tests/data/Makefile.am
@@ -15,10 +15,10 @@
 # along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
 # Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
 
-include $(top_srcdir)/subdir-rules.mk
-
 # Old RHEL 5 autoconf doesn't have builddir.
-builddir ?= $(top_builddir)/tests/data
+builddir ?= .
+
+include $(top_srcdir)/subdir-rules.mk
 
 EXTRA_DIST = \
 	filesanddirs-10M.tar.xz \
diff --git a/tests/extra/Makefile.am b/tests/extra/Makefile.am
index 911c83eb6..9bcb98814 100644
--- a/tests/extra/Makefile.am
+++ b/tests/extra/Makefile.am
@@ -48,6 +48,9 @@
 #   - hard to test because guestmount forks into the background, and
 #     if valgrind reports errors it doesn't stop the test shell script
 
+# Old RHEL 5 autoconf doesn't have abs_srcdir.
+abs_srcdir ?= $(shell cd $(top_srcdir)/tests/extra && pwd)
+
 EXTRA_DIST = pick-guests.pl suppressions
 
 VG = $(VALGRIND) \
diff --git a/tests/guests/Makefile.am b/tests/guests/Makefile.am
index e20d91ca4..3e5aea032 100644
--- a/tests/guests/Makefile.am
+++ b/tests/guests/Makefile.am
@@ -15,10 +15,10 @@
 # along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
 # Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
 
-include $(top_srcdir)/subdir-rules.mk
-
 # Old RHEL 5 autoconf doesn't have builddir.
-builddir ?= $(top_builddir)/tests/guests
+builddir ?= .
+
+include $(top_srcdir)/subdir-rules.mk
 
 EXTRA_DIST = \
 	guest-aux/make-debian-img.sh \
diff --git a/tests/xml/Makefile.am b/tests/xml/Makefile.am
index d9abd5cd1..f5638fcb0 100644
--- a/tests/xml/Makefile.am
+++ b/tests/xml/Makefile.am
@@ -15,6 +15,9 @@
 # along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
 # Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
 
+# Old RHEL 5 autoconf doesn't have abs_srcdir.
+abs_srcdir ?= $(shell cd $(top_srcdir)/tests/xml && pwd)
+
 include $(top_srcdir)/subdir-rules.mk
 
 if HAVE_LIBVIRT