diff --git a/staticmemory/Makefile b/staticmemory/Makefile
index 61884779..77b9a510 100644
--- a/staticmemory/Makefile
+++ b/staticmemory/Makefile
@@ -35,11 +35,13 @@ debug: all
 	$(CC) -o $@ $< $(CFLAGS) $(LIBS)
 
 clean:
-	rm -f $(TARGETS)
+	rm -f $(TARGETS) size.log debug.log
 
-check: SHELL := /bin/bash
-check: .SHELLFLAGS := -eo pipefail -c
+# Redirect then grep (no pipe) so a nonzero exit fails the recipe on its own and
+# it works under BSD make too, where SHELLFLAGS pipefail is unavailable.
 check: size-calculation debug-callback-example
-	./size-calculation | grep -q 'Checking out bucket 4 size of 25...ok'
-	./debug-callback-example | grep -q 'bucket size used was'
+	./size-calculation > size.log
+	grep -q 'Checking out bucket 4 size of 25...ok' size.log
+	./debug-callback-example > debug.log
+	grep -q 'bucket size used was' debug.log
 	@echo "PASS: staticmemory checks"
diff --git a/staticmemory/memory-bucket-optimizer/optimizer/Makefile b/staticmemory/memory-bucket-optimizer/optimizer/Makefile
index d656988f..549827a6 100644
--- a/staticmemory/memory-bucket-optimizer/optimizer/Makefile
+++ b/staticmemory/memory-bucket-optimizer/optimizer/Makefile
@@ -29,14 +29,12 @@ memory_bucket_optimizer: memory_bucket_optimizer.c
 	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o memory_bucket_optimizer memory_bucket_optimizer.c $(LDFLAGS)
 
 clean:
-	rm -f memory_bucket_optimizer
+	rm -f memory_bucket_optimizer mem.log
 
 .PHONY: all clean check
 
-check: SHELL := /bin/bash
-check: .SHELLFLAGS := -eo pipefail -c
 check: memory_bucket_optimizer
 	$(MAKE) -C ../.. >/dev/null
 	../../debug-callback-example > mem.log 2>&1
-	./memory_bucket_optimizer mem.log | grep -q 'Optimization Summary:'
+	./memory_bucket_optimizer mem.log
 	@echo "PASS: staticmemory-bucket-optimizer checks"