diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f5954f4e7..e7f86b39f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -72,11 +72,11 @@ If you followed the instructions above for building DPDK:
 
 Linux:
 
-    make DPDK_DIR=`pwd`/dpdk-2.1.0/x86_64-native-linuxapp-gcc
+    make DPDK_DIR=./dpdk-2.1.0/x86_64-native-linuxapp-gcc
 
 FreeBSD:
 
-    gmake DPDK_DIR=`pwd`/dpdk-2.1.0/x86_64-native-bsdapp-clang
+    gmake DPDK_DIR=./dpdk-2.1.0/x86_64-native-bsdapp-clang
 
 Hugepages and Device Binding
 ============================
diff --git a/mk/spdk.common.mk b/mk/spdk.common.mk
index 58fade265..ebba07289 100644
--- a/mk/spdk.common.mk
+++ b/mk/spdk.common.mk
@@ -114,14 +114,15 @@ LIB_C=\
 %.d: ;
 
 DPDK_DIR ?= $(CONFIG_DPDK_DIR)
-DPDK_INC_DIR ?= $(DPDK_DIR)/include
-DPDK_LIB_DIR ?= $(DPDK_DIR)/lib
+export DPDK_DIR_ABS = $(abspath $(DPDK_DIR))
+DPDK_INC_DIR ?= $(DPDK_DIR_ABS)/include
+DPDK_LIB_DIR ?= $(DPDK_DIR_ABS)/lib
 
 DPDK_INC = -I$(DPDK_INC_DIR)
 DPDK_LIB = -L$(DPDK_LIB_DIR) -lrte_eal -lrte_mempool -lrte_ring -Wl,-rpath=$(DPDK_LIB_DIR)
 # librte_malloc was removed after DPDK 2.1.  Link this library conditionally based on its
 #  existence to maintain backward compatibility.
-ifneq ($(wildcard $(DPDK_DIR)/lib/librte_malloc.*),)
+ifneq ($(wildcard $(DPDK_DIR_ABS)/lib/librte_malloc.*),)
 DPDK_LIB += -lrte_malloc
 endif
 
diff --git a/mk/spdk.subdirs.mk b/mk/spdk.subdirs.mk
index 173912410..e8064476d 100644
--- a/mk/spdk.subdirs.mk
+++ b/mk/spdk.subdirs.mk
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 $(DIRS-y) :
 	@echo "== $S/$@ ($(MAKECMDGOALS))"
-	$(Q)$(MAKE) -C $@ S=$S/$@ $(MAKECMDGOALS) $(MAKESUBDIRFLAGS)
+	$(Q)$(MAKE) -e -C $@ S=$S/$@ $(MAKECMDGOALS) $(MAKESUBDIRFLAGS)