diff --git a/acinclude.m4 b/acinclude.m4
index 67ea2d865a..64d916c244 100644
--- a/acinclude.m4
+++ b/acinclude.m4
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ AC_DEFUN([CURL_CHECK_NATIVE_WINDOWS], [
 #ifdef _WIN32
         int dummy=1;
 #else
-        Not a native Windows build target.
+        #error Not a native Windows build target.
 #endif
       ]])
     ],[
@@ -1333,7 +1333,7 @@ AS_HELP_STRING([--without-ca-fallback], [Don't use the built-in CA store of the
     if test "x$OPENSSL_ENABLED" != "x1" -a "x$GNUTLS_ENABLED" != "x1"; then
       AC_MSG_ERROR([--with-ca-fallback only works with OpenSSL or GnuTLS])
     fi
-    AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(CURL_CA_FALLBACK, 1, [define "1" to use built-in CA store of SSL library ])
+    AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(CURL_CA_FALLBACK, 1, [define "1" to use built-in CA store of SSL library])
   fi
 ])
 
@@ -1384,7 +1384,7 @@ AC_DEFUN([CURL_CHECK_WIN32_LARGEFILE], [
 #if !defined(_WIN32_WCE) && (defined(__MINGW32__) || defined(_MSC_VER))
           int dummy=1;
 #else
-          Win32 large file API not supported.
+          #error Win32 large file API not supported.
 #endif
         ]])
       ],[
@@ -1398,7 +1398,7 @@ AC_DEFUN([CURL_CHECK_WIN32_LARGEFILE], [
 #if defined(_WIN32_WCE) || defined(__MINGW32__) || defined(_MSC_VER)
           int dummy=1;
 #else
-          Win32 small file API not supported.
+          #error Win32 small file API not supported.
 #endif
         ]])
       ],[
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 784c0ce9fc..f8b0e9751d 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -2583,7 +2583,7 @@ AS_HELP_STRING([--disable-versioned-symbols], [Disable versioned symbols in shar
 
   esac
 ], [
-AC_MSG_RESULT(no)
+  AC_MSG_RESULT(no)
 ]
 )
 
@@ -4064,8 +4064,8 @@ fi
 CURL_CHECK_NONBLOCKING_SOCKET
 
 if test "x$BUILD_DOCS" != "x0" -o "x$USE_MANUAL" != "x0" -o "x$CURL_CA_EMBED" != "x"; then
-  AC_PATH_PROG( PERL, perl, ,
-    $PATH:/usr/local/bin/perl:/usr/bin/:/usr/local/bin )
+  AC_PATH_PROG(PERL, perl,,
+    $PATH:/usr/local/bin/perl:/usr/bin/:/usr/local/bin)
   AC_SUBST(PERL)
 
   if test -z "$PERL"; then
@@ -4132,7 +4132,7 @@ AS_HELP_STRING([--disable-pthreads],[Disable POSIX threads]),
       AC_MSG_RESULT(auto)
       want_pthreads=auto
     fi
-    ]
+  ]
 )
 
 dnl turn off pthreads if rt is disabled
diff --git a/m4/curl-compilers.m4 b/m4/curl-compilers.m4
index e2f851df68..68ff47c602 100644
--- a/m4/curl-compilers.m4
+++ b/m4/curl-compilers.m4
@@ -1264,7 +1264,7 @@ AC_DEFUN([CURL_CHECK_COMPILER_HALT_ON_ERROR], [
   AC_COMPILE_IFELSE([
     AC_LANG_PROGRAM([[
     ]],[[
-      force compilation error
+      #error force compilation error
     ]])
   ],[
     AC_MSG_RESULT([no])
diff --git a/m4/curl-override.m4 b/m4/curl-override.m4
index a640169c6e..e993e30f4e 100644
--- a/m4/curl-override.m4
+++ b/m4/curl-override.m4
@@ -93,6 +93,6 @@ extern "C"
 #endif
 char $1 ();
 #if defined __stub_$1 || defined __stub___$1
-choke me
+#error force compilation error
 #endif
 ], [return $1 ();])])
diff --git a/scripts/Makefile.am b/scripts/Makefile.am
index 02e1c91684..4454d42cf2 100644
--- a/scripts/Makefile.am
+++ b/scripts/Makefile.am
@@ -69,13 +69,13 @@ if USE_ZSH_COMPLETION
 	if test -n "$(PERL)"; then \
 	  $(MKDIR_P) $(DESTDIR)$(ZSH_FUNCTIONS_DIR); \
 	  $(INSTALL_DATA) $(ZSH_COMPLETION_FUNCTION_FILENAME) $(DESTDIR)$(ZSH_FUNCTIONS_DIR)/$(ZSH_COMPLETION_FUNCTION_FILENAME) ; \
-  fi
+	fi
 endif
 if USE_FISH_COMPLETION
 	if test -n "$(PERL)"; then \
 	  $(MKDIR_P) $(DESTDIR)$(FISH_FUNCTIONS_DIR); \
 	  $(INSTALL_DATA) $(FISH_COMPLETION_FUNCTION_FILENAME) $(DESTDIR)$(FISH_FUNCTIONS_DIR)/$(FISH_COMPLETION_FUNCTION_FILENAME) ; \
-  fi
+	fi
 endif
 endif
 
diff --git a/src/Makefile.am b/src/Makefile.am
index 6ea79c688e..98cc194c4d 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/Makefile.am
@@ -102,8 +102,7 @@ curl_LDADD = $(top_builddir)/lib/libcurl.la @LIBCURL_PC_LIBS_PRIVATE@
 # if unit tests are enabled, build a static library to link them with
 if BUILD_UNITTESTS
 noinst_LTLIBRARIES = libcurltool.la
-libcurltool_la_CPPFLAGS = $(AM_CPPFLAGS) \
-                          -DCURL_STATICLIB -DUNITTESTS
+libcurltool_la_CPPFLAGS = $(AM_CPPFLAGS) -DCURL_STATICLIB -DUNITTESTS
 libcurltool_la_CFLAGS =
 libcurltool_la_LDFLAGS = -static $(LINKFLAGS)
 if USE_UNITY