diff --git a/clean.mk b/clean.mk
index 51bfd3bca..ce9afb3b0 100644
--- a/clean.mk
+++ b/clean.mk
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
-clean_files :=
+clean-files :=
 
 clean:
-	$(suppress) rm -fv -- $(clean_files)
+	$(suppress) rm -fv -- $(clean-files)
 
 dryclean:
-	@for i in $(clean_files); do if [ -e $$i ]; then echo $$i; fi; done | sort
+	@for i in $(clean-files); do if [ -e $$i ]; then echo $$i; fi; done | sort
 
 print-top-help += \
   echo "  clean: Delete generated files"; \
diff --git a/dist.mk b/dist.mk
index cd11463e8..0ce4377ae 100644
--- a/dist.mk
+++ b/dist.mk
@@ -1,15 +1,15 @@
 ifdef PACKAGE_NAME
 
-dist_name = $(PACKAGE_NAME)-$(PACKAGE_VERSION)
+dist-name = $(PACKAGE_NAME)-$(PACKAGE_VERSION)
 
-dist_files :=
+dist-files :=
 
-dist: $(dist_name).tar.bz2
+dist: $(dist-name).tar.bz2
 
-$(dist_name).tar.bz2: $(dist_files)
-	$(suppress) tar cvfj $@ $(dist_files) --transform 's,^,$(dist_name)/,'
+$(dist-name).tar.bz2: $(dist-files)
+	$(suppress) tar cvfj $@ $(dist-files) --transform 's,^,$(dist-name)/,'
 
-clean_files += $(dist_name).tar.bz2
+clean-files += $(dist-name).tar.bz2
 
 print-top-help += echo "  dist: Generate a source distribution";
 
diff --git a/jars.mk b/jars.mk
index c8075cde1..9595c1c47 100644
--- a/jars.mk
+++ b/jars.mk
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@ define build-jar =
 
   install: $$($(1)_INSTALL_PATH)
 
-  jars_list += $$($(1)_PATH)
+  jars-list += $$($(1)_PATH)
 
-  clean_files += $$($(1)_PATH)
+  clean-files += $$($(1)_PATH)
 
 endef
diff --git a/lib.mk b/lib.mk
index 649c3b501..d930b0ef3 100644
--- a/lib.mk
+++ b/lib.mk
@@ -6,9 +6,10 @@ default: all
 
 
 # Initialise some variables.
-bin_SCRIPTS :=
-noinst_SCRIPTS :=
+bin-scripts :=
+noinst-scripts :=
 man-pages :=
+install-tests :=
 OS = $(shell uname -s)
 
 
@@ -64,24 +65,24 @@ define include-sub-makefile =
   include $(1)
 endef
 
-$(foreach mf, $(SUBS), $(eval $(call include-sub-makefile, $(mf))))
+$(foreach mf, $(makefiles), $(eval $(call include-sub-makefile, $(mf))))
 
 
 # Instantiate stuff.
-$(foreach lib, $(LIBS), $(eval $(call build-library,$(lib))))
-$(foreach prog, $(PROGRAMS), $(eval $(call build-program,$(prog))))
-$(foreach jar, $(JARS), $(eval $(call build-jar,$(jar))))
-$(foreach script, $(bin_SCRIPTS), $(eval $(call install-program-in,$(script),$(bindir))))
-$(foreach script, $(bin_SCRIPTS), $(eval programs_list += $(script)))
-$(foreach script, $(noinst_SCRIPTS), $(eval programs_list += $(script)))
-$(foreach template, $(template_files), $(eval $(call instantiate-template,$(template))))
-$(foreach test, $(INSTALL_TESTS), $(eval $(call run-install-test,$(test))))
+$(foreach lib, $(libraries), $(eval $(call build-library,$(lib))))
+$(foreach prog, $(programs), $(eval $(call build-program,$(prog))))
+$(foreach jar, $(jars), $(eval $(call build-jar,$(jar))))
+$(foreach script, $(bin-scripts), $(eval $(call install-program-in,$(script),$(bindir))))
+$(foreach script, $(bin-scripts), $(eval programs-list += $(script)))
+$(foreach script, $(noinst-scripts), $(eval programs-list += $(script)))
+$(foreach template, $(template-files), $(eval $(call instantiate-template,$(template))))
+$(foreach test, $(install-tests), $(eval $(call run-install-test,$(test))))
 $(foreach file, $(man-pages), $(eval $(call install-data-in, $(file), $(mandir)/man$(patsubst .%,%,$(suffix $(file))))))
 
 
 .PHONY: default all man help
 
-all: $(programs_list) $(libs_list) $(jars_list) $(man-pages)
+all: $(programs-list) $(libs-list) $(jars-list) $(man-pages)
 
 man: $(man-pages)
 
@@ -94,23 +95,23 @@ ifdef man-pages
 	@echo "  man: Generate manual pages"
 endif
 	@$(print-top-help)
-ifdef programs_list
+ifdef programs-list
 	@echo ""
 	@echo "The following programs can be built:"
 	@echo ""
-	@for i in $(programs_list); do echo "  $$i"; done
+	@for i in $(programs-list); do echo "  $$i"; done
 endif
-ifdef libs_list
+ifdef libs-list
 	@echo ""
 	@echo "The following libraries can be built:"
 	@echo ""
-	@for i in $(libs_list); do echo "  $$i"; done
+	@for i in $(libs-list); do echo "  $$i"; done
 endif
-ifdef jars_list
+ifdef jars-list
 	@echo ""
 	@echo "The following JARs can be built:"
 	@echo ""
-	@for i in $(jars_list); do echo "  $$i"; done
+	@for i in $(jars-list); do echo "  $$i"; done
 endif
 	@echo ""
 	@echo "The following variables control the build:"
diff --git a/libraries.mk b/libraries.mk
index 461a3e9a6..a6965325a 100644
--- a/libraries.mk
+++ b/libraries.mk
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-libs_list :=
+libs-list :=
 
 ifeq ($(OS), Darwin)
   SO_EXT = dylib
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ define build-library =
   $(1)_DEPS := $$(foreach fn, $$($(1)_OBJS), $$(call filename-to-dep, $$(fn)))
   -include $$($(1)_DEPS)
 
-  libs_list += $$($(1)_PATH)
-  clean_files += $$(_d)/*.a $$(_d)/*.$(SO_EXT) $$(_d)/*.o $$(_d)/.*.dep $$($(1)_DEPS) $$($(1)_OBJS)
-  dist_files += $$(_srcs)
+  libs-list += $$($(1)_PATH)
+  clean-files += $$(_d)/*.a $$(_d)/*.$(SO_EXT) $$(_d)/*.o $$(_d)/.*.dep $$($(1)_DEPS) $$($(1)_OBJS)
+  dist-files += $$(_srcs)
 endef
diff --git a/programs.mk b/programs.mk
index 0478e16d0..30539d129 100644
--- a/programs.mk
+++ b/programs.mk
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-programs_list :=
+programs-list :=
 
 # Build a program with symbolic name $(1).  The program is defined by
 # various variables prefixed by ‘$(1)_’:
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ define build-program =
   $(1)_DEPS := $$(foreach fn, $$($(1)_OBJS), $$(call filename-to-dep, $$(fn)))
   -include $$($(1)_DEPS)
 
-  programs_list += $$($(1)_PATH)
-  clean_files += $$($(1)_PATH) $$(_d)/*.o $$(_d)/.*.dep $$($(1)_DEPS) $$($(1)_OBJS)
-  dist_files += $$(_srcs)
+  programs-list += $$($(1)_PATH)
+  clean-files += $$($(1)_PATH) $$(_d)/*.o $$(_d)/.*.dep $$($(1)_DEPS) $$($(1)_OBJS)
+  dist-files += $$(_srcs)
 endef
diff --git a/templates.mk b/templates.mk
index 82f9d6025..6d7b1034c 100644
--- a/templates.mk
+++ b/templates.mk
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
-template_files :=
+template-files :=
 
 # Create the file $(1) from $(1).in by running config.status (which
 # substitutes all ‘@var@’ variables set by the configure script).
 define instantiate-template =
 
-  clean_files += $(1)
+  clean-files += $(1)
 
 endef
 
diff --git a/tests.mk b/tests.mk
index 8a3bff66e..339abd580 100644
--- a/tests.mk
+++ b/tests.mk
@@ -6,15 +6,15 @@ define run-install-test =
   # Run the test in its own directory to mimick Automake behaviour.
   $1.run: $1 $(_PREV_TEST)
 
-  _installcheck_list += $1
+  _installcheck-list += $1
 
 endef
 
 installcheck: install
-	@total=0; failed=0; for i in $(_installcheck_list); do \
+	@total=0; failed=0; for i in $(_installcheck-list); do \
 	  total=$$((total + 1)); \
 	  echo "running test $$i"; \
-	  if (cd $$(dirname $$i) && $(TESTS_ENVIRONMENT) $$(basename $$i)); then \
+	  if (cd $$(dirname $$i) && $(tests-environment) $$(basename $$i)); then \
 	    echo "PASS: $$i"; \
 	  else \
 	    echo "FAIL: $$i"; \