diff --git a/tools/release/bins.pl b/tools/release/bins.pl
index 49fe8c1d73..bb4aa68221 100755
--- a/tools/release/bins.pl
+++ b/tools/release/bins.pl
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ sub buildfonts {
 
     `rm -rf * >/dev/null 2>&1`;
 
-    my $c = sprintf('echo -e "%s\n%sn\n" | ../tools/configure',
+    my $c = sprintf("printf '%s\n%sn\n' | ../tools/configure",
                     $confnum, $newl?'\n':'');
 
     print "C: $c\n" if($verbose);