diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 71657ec904..01b9a94823 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -550,9 +550,13 @@ $(patsubst %.perl,%,$(SCRIPT_PERL)): perl/Makefile
 $(patsubst %.perl,%,$(SCRIPT_PERL)): % : %.perl
 	rm -f $@ $@+
 	INSTLIBDIR=`$(MAKE) -C perl -s --no-print-directory instlibdir` && \
-	sed -e '1s|#!.*perl|#!$(PERL_PATH_SQ)|1' \
-	    -e '2i\
-	        use lib (split(/:/, $$ENV{GITPERLLIB} || '\'"$$INSTLIBDIR"\''));' \
+	sed -e '1{' \
+	    -e '	s|#!.*perl|#!$(PERL_PATH_SQ)|' \
+	    -e '	h' \
+	    -e '	s=.*=use lib (split(/:/, $$ENV{GITPERLLIB} || "@@INSTLIBDIR@@"));=' \
+	    -e '	H' \
+	    -e '	x' \
+	    -e '}' \
 	    -e 's|@@INSTLIBDIR@@|'"$$INSTLIBDIR"'|g' \
 	    -e 's/@@GIT_VERSION@@/$(GIT_VERSION)/g' \
 	    $@.perl >$@+