This patch is taken from:
http://cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewvc/make/main.c?root=make&r1=1.243&r2=1.244

Fix Savannah bug #30723:
expand MAKEFLAGS before we re-exec after rebuilding makefiles.

bug #30723: implicit re-executing of subdirs breaks $(origin) with make-3.82
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?30723

--- a/main.c	2010/07/19 07:10:53	1.243
+++ b/main.c	2010/08/10 07:35:34	1.244
@@ -2093,7 +2093,7 @@
             const char *pv = define_makeflags (1, 1);
             char *p = alloca (sizeof ("MAKEFLAGS=") + strlen (pv) + 1);
             sprintf (p, "MAKEFLAGS=%s", pv);
-            putenv (p);
+            putenv (allocated_variable_expand (p));
           }
 
 	  if (ISDB (DB_BASIC))