diff --git a/repos/base-fiasco/lib/mk/kernel-fiasco.inc b/repos/base-fiasco/lib/mk/kernel-fiasco.inc
index cca65d55e..4c8f43e23 100644
--- a/repos/base-fiasco/lib/mk/kernel-fiasco.inc
+++ b/repos/base-fiasco/lib/mk/kernel-fiasco.inc
@@ -7,17 +7,20 @@ FIASCO_SRC       = $(L4_SRC_DIR)/kernel/fiasco
 KERNEL_BUILD_OUTPUT_FILTER = 2>&1 | sed "s/^/      [fiasco]  /"
 
 $(FIASCO_BUILD_DIR):
-	$(VERBOSE_MK) MAKEFLAGS= $(MAKE) SYSTEM_TARGET="$(CROSS_DEV_PREFIX)" \
+	$(VERBOSE_MK) set -o pipefail; \
+	              MAKEFLAGS= $(MAKE) SYSTEM_TARGET="$(CROSS_DEV_PREFIX)" \
 	                                 $(VERBOSE_DIR) -C $(FIASCO_SRC) BUILDDIR=$@ \
 	                                 $(KERNEL_BUILD_OUTPUT_FILTER)
 	$(VERBOSE)cp $(KERNEL_CONFIG) $@/globalconfig.out
-	$(VERBOSE_MK) MAKEFLAGS= $(MAKE) SYSTEM_TARGET="$(CROSS_DEV_PREFIX)" \
+	$(VERBOSE_MK) set -o pipefail; \
+	              MAKEFLAGS= $(MAKE) SYSTEM_TARGET="$(CROSS_DEV_PREFIX)" \
 	                                 $(VERBOSE_DIR) -C $@ oldconfig \
 	                                 $(KERNEL_BUILD_OUTPUT_FILTER)
 	$(VERBOSE)cp $(KERNEL_CONFIG) $@/globalconfig.out
 
 $(FIASCO): $(FIASCO_BUILD_DIR)
-	$(VERBOSE_MK) MAKEFLAGS= $(MAKE) SYSTEM_TARGET="$(CROSS_DEV_PREFIX)" \
+	$(VERBOSE_MK) set -o pipefail; \
+	              MAKEFLAGS= $(MAKE) SYSTEM_TARGET="$(CROSS_DEV_PREFIX)" \
 	                                 $(VERBOSE_DIR) -C $(FIASCO_BUILD_DIR) \
 	                                 $(KERNEL_BUILD_OUTPUT_FILTER)
 
diff --git a/repos/base-fiasco/lib/mk/l4_pkg.inc b/repos/base-fiasco/lib/mk/l4_pkg.inc
index 0039d718e..1033a46ed 100644
--- a/repos/base-fiasco/lib/mk/l4_pkg.inc
+++ b/repos/base-fiasco/lib/mk/l4_pkg.inc
@@ -53,7 +53,8 @@ endif
 # 'off64_t' type, which is used by bootstrap.
 #
 %.tag:
-	$(VERBOSE_MK) MAKEFLAGS= CPPFLAGS="$(CC_MARCH)" \
+	$(VERBOSE_MK) set -o pipefail; \
+	              MAKEFLAGS= CPPFLAGS="$(CC_MARCH)" \
 	              CFLAGS="$(CC_MARCH)" CXXFLAGS="$(CC_MARCH) -D_GNU_SOURCE" \
 	              ASFLAGS="$(CC_MARCH)" LDFLAGS="$(LD_MARCH)" \
 	              $(MAKE) $(VERBOSE_DIR) O=$(L4_BUILD_DIR) $(L4_VERBOSE) \
diff --git a/repos/base-fiasco/lib/mk/syscall-fiasco.inc b/repos/base-fiasco/lib/mk/syscall-fiasco.inc
index 646d1e95e..0e4a0ff12 100644
--- a/repos/base-fiasco/lib/mk/syscall-fiasco.inc
+++ b/repos/base-fiasco/lib/mk/syscall-fiasco.inc
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@ L4_BUILD_DIR := $(shell pwd)
 .Makeconf.bid.old:
 	$(VERBOSE)mkdir -p $(dir $@)
 	$(VERBOSE)cp $(L4_CONFIG) $(@:.old=)
-	$(VERBOSE_MK) MAKEFLAGS= make $(VERBOSE_DIR) -C $(L4_SRC_DIR)/l4 \
+	$(VERBOSE_MK) set -o pipefail; \
+	   MAKEFLAGS= make $(VERBOSE_DIR) -C $(L4_SRC_DIR)/l4 \
 	   O=$(L4_BUILD_DIR) SYSTEM_TARGET="$(CROSS_DEV_PREFIX)" oldconfig \
 	   2>&1 | sed "s/^/      [l4build]  /"
 	$(VERBOSE)touch $@
diff --git a/repos/base-foc/lib/mk/kernel-foc.inc b/repos/base-foc/lib/mk/kernel-foc.inc
index 53b2d7bff..097686636 100644
--- a/repos/base-foc/lib/mk/kernel-foc.inc
+++ b/repos/base-foc/lib/mk/kernel-foc.inc
@@ -8,13 +8,15 @@ MAKEOVERRIDES := $(filter-out KERNEL=%,$(MAKEOVERRIDES))
 unexport KERNEL
 
 $(FOC_BUILD_DIR):
-	$(VERBOSE_MK) $(MAKE) SYSTEM_TARGET="$(CROSS_DEV_PREFIX)" \
+	$(VERBOSE_MK) set -o pipefail; \
+	              $(MAKE) SYSTEM_TARGET="$(CROSS_DEV_PREFIX)" \
 	                      $(VERBOSE_DIR) -C $(FOC_SRC) BUILDDIR=$@ \
 	                      $(KERNEL_BUILD_OUTPUT_FILTER)
 	$(VERBOSE)cp $(KERNEL_CONFIG) $@/globalconfig.out
 
 $(FOC): $(FOC_BUILD_DIR)
-	$(VERBOSE_MK) $(MAKE) SYSTEM_TARGET="$(CROSS_DEV_PREFIX)" \
+	$(VERBOSE_MK) set -o pipefail; \
+	              $(MAKE) SYSTEM_TARGET="$(CROSS_DEV_PREFIX)" \
 	                      CC="$(CC)" CXX="$(CXX)" \
 	                      $(VERBOSE_DIR) -C $(FOC_BUILD_DIR) \
 	                      $(KERNEL_BUILD_OUTPUT_FILTER)
diff --git a/repos/base-foc/lib/mk/l4_pkg.inc b/repos/base-foc/lib/mk/l4_pkg.inc
index 750d6a5d6..3d07c0bc5 100644
--- a/repos/base-foc/lib/mk/l4_pkg.inc
+++ b/repos/base-foc/lib/mk/l4_pkg.inc
@@ -50,7 +50,8 @@ endif
 .NOTPARALLEL: $(PKG_TAGS)
 
 %.tag:
-	$(VERBOSE_MK) $(MAKE) $(VERBOSE_DIR) O=$(L4_BUILD_DIR) -C $(L4_PKG_DIR)/$* \
+	$(VERBOSE_MK) set -o pipefail; \
+	              $(MAKE) $(VERBOSE_DIR) O=$(L4_BUILD_DIR) -C $(L4_PKG_DIR)/$* \
 	                      "$(L4_BUILD_OPT)" $(BUILD_OUTPUT_FILTER)
 	$(VERBOSE)mkdir -p $(dir $@) && touch $@
 
diff --git a/repos/base-foc/lib/mk/syscall-foc.inc b/repos/base-foc/lib/mk/syscall-foc.inc
index 52b2095db..669dfb154 100644
--- a/repos/base-foc/lib/mk/syscall-foc.inc
+++ b/repos/base-foc/lib/mk/syscall-foc.inc
@@ -36,7 +36,8 @@ CC_OPT += -DL4SYS_USE_UTCB_WRAP=1
 # build system will stuble over predefined variables, i.e., 'LIB'
 #
 $(L4_BUILD_DIR)/.kconfig:
-	$(VERBOSE_MK) MAKEFLAGS= $(MAKE) $(VERBOSE_DIR) -C $(L4_SRC_DIR)/l4 \
+	$(VERBOSE_MK) set -o pipefail; \
+	     MAKEFLAGS= $(MAKE) $(VERBOSE_DIR) -C $(L4_SRC_DIR)/l4 \
 	     B=$(L4_BUILD_DIR) DROPSCONF_DEFCONFIG="$(L4_CONFIG)" \
 	     VERBOSE="$(VERBOSE)" SYSTEM_TARGET="$(CROSS_DEV_PREFIX)" \
 	     2>&1 | sed "s/^/      [l4build]  /"