diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index a1790045..4011250c 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -118,6 +118,8 @@ ifneq (,$(filter $(shell uname),Linux Darwin GNU/kFreeBSD GNU OpenBSD FreeBSD Dr
 HOST_OS = POSIX
 CMAKE_PARAMS = -DZSTD_BUILD_CONTRIB:BOOL=ON -DZSTD_BUILD_STATIC:BOOL=ON -DZSTD_BUILD_TESTS:BOOL=ON -DZSTD_ZLIB_SUPPORT:BOOL=ON -DZSTD_LZMA_SUPPORT:BOOL=ON -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
 
+EGREP = egrep --color=never
+
 # Print a two column output of targets and their description. To add a target description, put a
 # comment in the Makefile with the format "## <TARGET>: <DESCRIPTION>".  For example:
 #
@@ -126,12 +128,12 @@ CMAKE_PARAMS = -DZSTD_BUILD_CONTRIB:BOOL=ON -DZSTD_BUILD_STATIC:BOOL=ON -DZSTD_B
 list:
 	@TARGETS=$$($(MAKE) -pRrq -f $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST)) : 2>/dev/null \
 		| awk -v RS= -F: '/^# File/,/^# Finished Make data base/ {if ($$1 !~ "^[#.]") {print $$1}}' \
-		| egrep -v  -e '^[^[:alnum:]]' | sort); \
+		| $(EGREP) -v  -e '^[^[:alnum:]]' | sort); \
 	{ \
 	    printf "Target Name\tDescription\n"; \
 	    printf "%0.s-" {1..16}; printf "\t"; printf "%0.s-" {1..40}; printf "\n"; \
 	    for target in $$TARGETS; do \
-	        line=$$(egrep "^##[[:space:]]+$$target:" $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))); \
+	        line=$$($(EGREP) "^##[[:space:]]+$$target:" $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))); \
 	        description=$$(echo $$line | awk '{i=index($$0,":"); print substr($$0,i+1)}' | xargs); \
 	        printf "$$target\t$$description\n"; \
 	    done \
diff --git a/lib/Makefile b/lib/Makefile
index 6657f21b..a161809c 100644
--- a/lib/Makefile
+++ b/lib/Makefile
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ DEBUGFLAGS= -Wall -Wextra -Wcast-qual -Wcast-align -Wshadow \
 CFLAGS  += $(DEBUGFLAGS) $(MOREFLAGS)
 FLAGS    = $(CPPFLAGS) $(CFLAGS)
 
+GREP = grep --color=never
+
 ZSTDCOMMON_FILES := $(sort $(wildcard common/*.c))
 ZSTDCOMP_FILES := $(sort $(wildcard compress/*.c))
 ZSTDDECOMP_FILES := $(sort $(wildcard decompress/*.c))
@@ -72,7 +74,7 @@ endif
 
 ifneq ($(ZSTD_LEGACY_SUPPORT), 0)
 ifeq ($(shell test $(ZSTD_LEGACY_SUPPORT) -lt 8; echo $$?), 0)
-	ZSTD_FILES += $(shell ls legacy/*.c | grep 'v0[$(ZSTD_LEGACY_SUPPORT)-7]')
+	ZSTD_FILES += $(shell ls legacy/*.c | $(GREP) 'v0[$(ZSTD_LEGACY_SUPPORT)-7]')
 endif
 	CPPFLAGS += -I./legacy
 endif
diff --git a/programs/Makefile b/programs/Makefile
index 523aa5f7..7dc65118 100644
--- a/programs/Makefile
+++ b/programs/Makefile
@@ -27,9 +27,11 @@ LIBVER_MINOR := $(shell echo $(LIBVER_MINOR_SCRIPT))
 LIBVER_PATCH := $(shell echo $(LIBVER_PATCH_SCRIPT))
 LIBVER  := $(shell echo $(LIBVER_SCRIPT))
 
-ZSTD_VERSION=$(LIBVER)
+ZSTD_VERSION = $(LIBVER)
 
-ifeq ($(shell $(CC) -v 2>&1 | grep -c "gcc version "), 1)
+GREP = grep --color=never
+
+ifeq ($(shell $(CC) -v 2>&1 | $(GREP) -c "gcc version "), 1)
 ALIGN_LOOP = -falign-loops=32
 else
 ALIGN_LOOP =
@@ -62,7 +64,7 @@ ZSTD_LEGACY_SUPPORT ?= 5
 ZSTDLEGACY_FILES :=
 ifneq ($(ZSTD_LEGACY_SUPPORT), 0)
 ifeq ($(shell test $(ZSTD_LEGACY_SUPPORT) -lt 8; echo $$?), 0)
-	ZSTDLEGACY_FILES += $(shell ls $(ZSTDDIR)/legacy/*.c | grep 'v0[$(ZSTD_LEGACY_SUPPORT)-7]')
+	ZSTDLEGACY_FILES += $(shell ls $(ZSTDDIR)/legacy/*.c | $(GREP) 'v0[$(ZSTD_LEGACY_SUPPORT)-7]')
 endif
 	CPPFLAGS += -I$(ZSTDDIR)/legacy
 else
@@ -260,9 +262,27 @@ preview-man: clean-man man
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 ifneq (,$(filter $(shell uname),Linux Darwin GNU/kFreeBSD GNU OpenBSD FreeBSD NetBSD DragonFly SunOS))
 
+EGREP = egrep --color=never
+
+# Print a two column output of targets and their description. To add a target description, put a
+# comment in the Makefile with the format "## <TARGET>: <DESCRIPTION>".  For example:
+#
+## list: Print all targets and their descriptions (if provided)
 .PHONY: list
 list:
-	@$(MAKE) -pRrq -f $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST)) : 2>/dev/null | awk -v RS= -F: '/^# File/,/^# Finished Make data base/ {if ($$1 !~ "^[#.]") {print $$1}}' | sort | egrep -v -e '^[^[:alnum:]]' -e '^$@$$' | xargs
+	@TARGETS=$$($(MAKE) -pRrq -f $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST)) : 2>/dev/null \
+		| awk -v RS= -F: '/^# File/,/^# Finished Make data base/ {if ($$1 !~ "^[#.]") {print $$1}}' \
+		| $(EGREP) -v  -e '^[^[:alnum:]]' | sort); \
+	{ \
+	    printf "Target Name\tDescription\n"; \
+	    printf "%0.s-" {1..16}; printf "\t"; printf "%0.s-" {1..40}; printf "\n"; \
+	    for target in $$TARGETS; do \
+	        line=$$($(EGREP) "^##[[:space:]]+$$target:" $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))); \
+	        description=$$(echo $$line | awk '{i=index($$0,":"); print substr($$0,i+1)}' | xargs); \
+	        printf "$$target\t$$description\n"; \
+	    done \
+	} | column -t -s $$'\t'
+
 
 DESTDIR     ?=
 # directory variables : GNU conventions prefer lowercase