diff --git a/CHANGELOG.org b/CHANGELOG.org
index 26bf22d10..dd8881391 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.org
+++ b/CHANGELOG.org
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@
 + =doom=
   + Added new module: ~lang/ledger~, for editing ledger files.
   + Fixed ~make update~ to work even if Doom is installed somewhere other than ~\~/.emacs.d~ (see [[https://github.com/hlissner/doom-emacs/issues/190][#190]]).
+  + Removed colons from makefile task target names. They broke compatibility with certain versions of make.
 + =feature=
   + =hydra= Display a separator along the bottom of hydra windows for extra contrast.
 + =ui=
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 8af7eda71..669ba1a05 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@ i: install
 u: update
 r: autoremove
 c: compile
-cc: compile\:core
-ce: compile\:elpa
+cc: compile-core
+ce: compile-elpa
 
 ## Package management
 install: init.el .local/autoloads.el
@@ -32,21 +32,21 @@ autoloads: init.el
 
 ## Byte compilation
 # compile
-# compile:core
-# compile:module
-# compile:module/submodule
+# compile-core
+# compile-module
+# compile-module/submodule
 compile: init.el clean
 	@$(EMACS) -f doom/compile
 
-compile\:core: init.el clean
+compile-core: init.el clean
 	@$(EMACS) -f doom/compile -- init.el core
 
-compile\:elpa: init.el
+compile-elpa: init.el
 	@$(EMACS) -f doom/recompile-packages
 
-$(patsubst %, compile\:%, $(MODULES)): init.el .local/autoloads.el
-	@rm -fv $(shell find $(patsubst compile:%, modules/%, $@) -type f -name '*.elc')
-	@$(EMACS) -f doom/compile -- $(patsubst compile:%, modules/%, $@)
+$(patsubst %, compile-%, $(MODULES)): init.el .local/autoloads.el
+	@rm -fv $(shell find $(patsubst compile-%, modules/%, $@) -type f -name '*.elc')
+	@$(EMACS) -f doom/compile -- $(patsubst compile-%, modules/%, $@)
 
 recompile: init.el
 	@$(EMACS) -f doom/recompile
@@ -63,14 +63,14 @@ reset:
 
 ## Unit tests
 # test
-# test:core
-# test:module
-# test:module/submodule
+# test-core
+# test-module
+# test-module/submodule
 test: init.el .local/autoloads.el
 	@$(EMACS) -f doom-run-tests
 
-test\:core $(patsubst %, test\:%, $(MODULES)): init.el .local/autoloads.el
-	@$(EMACS) -f doom-run-tests -- $(subst test:, , $@)
+test-core $(patsubst %, test-%, $(MODULES)): init.el .local/autoloads.el
+	@$(EMACS) -f doom-run-tests -- $(subst test-, , $@)
 
 # run tests interactively
 testi: init.el .local/autoloads.el