diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index bee47c45cc509f3a133d99cfac0fd9a8589cb3e7..ab4c4d57b65c6ff3dc6fff905a6780468272bb7a 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ docclean:
 	$(MAKE) -C docs/ clean
 
 symlinkclean:
-	find package -type l | xargs rm -f
+	find package -type l -exec rm -f {} \;
 
 .SILENT: clean dirclean distclean symlinkclean config-clean download world
 FORCE: ;
diff --git a/include/image.mk b/include/image.mk
index 78e1a2fdc80562cc20f0efbb72d4376b21301b09..eb59ea651cd84e3fdc7f31f42a84f4375dcfe153 100644
--- a/include/image.mk
+++ b/include/image.mk
@@ -79,9 +79,9 @@ endif
 
 
 define Image/mkfs/prepare/default
-	find $(BUILD_DIR)/root -type f -not -perm +0100 -not -name 'ssh_host*' | xargs chmod 0644
-	find $(BUILD_DIR)/root -type f -perm +0100 | xargs chmod 0755
-	find $(BUILD_DIR)/root -type d | xargs chmod 0755
+	find $(BUILD_DIR)/root -type f -not -perm +0100 -not -name 'ssh_host*' -exec chmod 0644 {} \;
+	find $(BUILD_DIR)/root -type f -perm +0100 -exec chmod 0755 {} \;
+	find $(BUILD_DIR)/root -type d -exec chmod 0755 {} \;
 	mkdir -p $(BUILD_DIR)/root/tmp
 	chmod 0777 $(BUILD_DIR)/root/tmp
 endef
diff --git a/include/package-ipkg.mk b/include/package-ipkg.mk
index 8d6f1956f8f2a9c5f4d73cff92b70c854f2f0312..d824d268f4127ca153f2ee2d175dc203d4ce58de 100644
--- a/include/package-ipkg.mk
+++ b/include/package-ipkg.mk
@@ -71,9 +71,9 @@ ifeq ($(DUMP),)
     $$(IPKG_$(1)): $(PKG_BUILD_DIR)/.built $$(IDIR_$(1))/CONTROL/control
 	$(call Package/$(1)/install,$$(IDIR_$(1)))
 	mkdir -p $(PACKAGE_DIR)
-	-find $$(IDIR_$(1)) -name CVS   | xargs rm -rf
-	-find $$(IDIR_$(1)) -name .svn  | xargs rm -rf
-	-find $$(IDIR_$(1)) -name '.#*' | xargs rm -f
+	-find $$(IDIR_$(1)) -name CVS   -exec rm -rf {} \;
+	-find $$(IDIR_$(1)) -name .svn  -exec rm -rf {} \;
+	-find $$(IDIR_$(1)) -name '.#*' -exec rm -f  {} \;
 	$(RSTRIP) $$(IDIR_$(1))
 	$(IPKG_BUILD) $$(IDIR_$(1)) $(PACKAGE_DIR)
 	@[ -f $$(IPKG_$(1)) ] || false 
diff --git a/scripts/feeds.sh b/scripts/feeds.sh
index 351c87c43dd2ca70d8fda03c4b383cc4276f3970..d2dfe9da9f26e3c1d0f615d59f956418b0239b82 100755
--- a/scripts/feeds.sh
+++ b/scripts/feeds.sh
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ cd $TOPDIR
 
 # Some functions we might call several times a run
 delete_symlinks() {
-	find $1 -type l | xargs rm -f
+	find $1 -type l -exec rm -f {} \;
 }
 
 setup_symlinks() {
diff --git a/target/imagebuilder/Makefile b/target/imagebuilder/Makefile
index 0cbbfa28353101c18e5e558741fd0147b0c899ee..3d830bbc2d79a2f05ac99653678ac9a4d1aba4c7 100644
--- a/target/imagebuilder/Makefile
+++ b/target/imagebuilder/Makefile
@@ -33,8 +33,8 @@ $(BIN_DIR)/$(IB_NAME).tar.bz2: clean
 	$(CP) $(TOPDIR)/target/linux/* $(IB_BUILD_DIR)/target/linux
 	rm -rf $(IB_BUILD_DIR)/target/linux/*/patches
 	-cp $(BUILD_DIR)/linux-$(KERNEL)-$(BOARD)/* $(IB_BUILD_DIR)/build_$(ARCH)/linux-$(KERNEL)-$(BOARD) # don't copy subdirectories here
-	find $(IB_BUILD_DIR) -name .svn | xargs rm -rf 
-	find $(IB_BUILD_DIR) -name CVS | xargs rm -rf 
+	find $(IB_BUILD_DIR) -name .svn -exec rm -rf {} \;
+	find $(IB_BUILD_DIR) -name CVS -exec rm -rf  {} \;
 	(cd $(BUILD_DIR); \
 		tar cfj $@ $(IB_NAME); \
 	)
diff --git a/target/sdk/Makefile b/target/sdk/Makefile
index d65b934c95342168ead7b8a8c6e50a01a82e619c..3cae4b3842654d8ddc213f873b74071a220309ab 100644
--- a/target/sdk/Makefile
+++ b/target/sdk/Makefile
@@ -35,8 +35,8 @@ $(BIN_DIR)/$(SDK_NAME).tar.bz2: clean
 	$(CP) ./files/package/rules.mk $(SDK_BUILD_DIR)/package/
 	echo OPENWRTVERSION:=$(OPENWRTVERSION) > $(SDK_BUILD_DIR)/.version.mk
 	rm -rf $(SDK_BUILD_DIR)/staging_dir*/ccache
-	find $(SDK_BUILD_DIR) -name .svn | xargs rm -rf 
-	find $(SDK_BUILD_DIR) -name CVS | xargs rm -rf 
+	find $(SDK_BUILD_DIR) -name .svn -exec rm -rf {} \;
+	find $(SDK_BUILD_DIR) -name CVS -exec rm -rf  {} \;
 	(cd $(BUILD_DIR); \
 		tar cfj $@ $(SDK_NAME); \
 	)