diff --git a/Makefile.pre.in b/Makefile.pre.in
index ce8710e..2c2c77a 100644
--- a/Makefile.pre.in
+++ b/Makefile.pre.in
@@ -455,7 +455,7 @@ Modules/getbuildinfo.o: $(PARSER_OBJS) \
 		$(SIGNAL_OBJS) \
 		$(MODOBJS) \
 		$(srcdir)/Modules/getbuildinfo.c
-	$(CC) -c $(PY_CFLAGS) -DSVNVERSION=\"`LANG=C $(SVNVERSION)`\" -o $@ $(srcdir)/Modules/getbuildinfo.c
+	$(CC) -c $(PY_CFLAGS) -DSVNVERSION="\"`LANG=C $(SVNVERSION)`\"" -o $@ $(srcdir)/Modules/getbuildinfo.c
 
 Modules/getpath.o: $(srcdir)/Modules/getpath.c Makefile
 	$(CC) -c $(PY_CFLAGS) -DPYTHONPATH='"$(PYTHONPATH)"' \