Do not try to chown/chgrp when installing unless running as root. This is done for the same reasons as the patch for lib/rubygems/ext/ext_conf_builder.rb in the Ruby port. Don't have it accidently use gmake, because the makefiles created can use BSD make extensions. Index: lib/rake/extensiontask.rb --- lib/rake/extensiontask.rb.orig +++ lib/rake/extensiontask.rb @@ -169,6 +169,7 @@ module Rake make_command_line << "install" make_command_line << "sitearchdir=#{relative_lib_path}" make_command_line << "sitelibdir=#{relative_lib_path}" + make_command_line << "INSTALL_PROG=/usr/bin/install -c -m 0755" unless Process.uid == 0 make_command_line << "target_prefix=" sh(*make_command_line, chdir: tmp_path) @@ -494,20 +495,7 @@ Java extension should be preferred. end def make - unless @make - @make = - if RUBY_PLATFORM =~ /mswin/ then - 'nmake' - else - ENV['MAKE'] || find_make - end - end - - unless @make - raise "Couldn't find a suitable `make` tool. Use `MAKE` env to set an alternative." - end - - @make + @make ||= ENV['MAKE'] || 'make' end def find_make