diff --git a/Makefile.system b/Makefile.system
index 30d8f4ccf..6d985786d 100644
--- a/Makefile.system
+++ b/Makefile.system
@@ -855,7 +855,7 @@ CCOMMON_OPT += -DF_INTERFACE_FLANG
 FCOMMON_OPT += -Mrecursive -Kieee
 ifeq ($(OSNAME), Linux)
 ifeq ($(ARCH), x86_64)
-FLANG_VENDOR := $(shell expr `$(FC) --version|cut -f 1 -d "."|head -1`)
+FLANG_VENDOR := $(shell `$(FC) --version|cut -f 1 -d "."|head -1`)
 ifeq ($(FLANG_VENDOR),AOCC)
 FCOMMON_OPT += -fno-unroll-loops
 endif