diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3e085f3..bce5baa 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -7,3 +7,5 @@ test/*
 *.a
 *.so
 *.core
+config.mk
+
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index dd9329f..0f72151 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -20,9 +20,9 @@ There is a simple test harness which can be invoked via `make test`. If you wish
 to port this software to an untested platform the tests will greatly assist in
 that process.
 > Note: if your OS uses **dash** as `/bin/sh` then the builtin echo command will not
-> be up to the task of printing the escape sequences used by the test runner. If this
-> bothers you, you can call `make` with the `SHELL` environment variable overridden
-> by calling `make SHELL=/bin/bash all test`.
+> be up to the task of printing the escape sequences used by the test runner. In
+> this case, be sure to set the `ECHO` variable to `/bin/echo` in the *config.mk*
+> file.
 
 ## Contributing
 Contributions are always welcome and can be made via pull request or `git send-email`,
diff --git a/config.mk b/config.mk.in
similarity index 59%
rename from config.mk
rename to config.mk.in
index 5906546..f89317e 100644
--- a/config.mk
+++ b/config.mk.in
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@ libdir      = $(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/lib
 sharedir    = $(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/share
 mandir      = $(sharedir)/man
 docdir      = $(sharedir)/doc/haggis
+# We need an `echo` program that doesn't screw with terminal escape sequences.
+# This only matters if /bin/sh is a symlink to dash, as the echo builtin in dash
+# will screw with them and pass them as printed characters.
+ECHO        = /bin/echo
 # Comment this line if your OS ships libmd as part of libc
 # (NetBSD, OpenBSD)
 LIBS   += -lmd