diff --git a/scripts/mkcompile_h b/scripts/mkcompile_h
index f060763c0c6a..bce3d0fe6fbd 100755
--- a/scripts/mkcompile_h
+++ b/scripts/mkcompile_h
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
 TARGET=$1
 ARCH=$2
 SMP=$3
@@ -50,7 +52,7 @@ UTS_VERSION="$UTS_VERSION $CONFIG_FLAGS $TIMESTAMP"
 # Truncate to maximum length
 
 UTS_LEN=64
-UTS_TRUNCATE="sed -e s/\(.\{1,$UTS_LEN\}\).*/\1/"
+UTS_TRUNCATE="cut -b -$UTS_LEN"
 
 # Generate a temporary compile.h