diff --git a/src/V3EmitMk.cpp b/src/V3EmitMk.cpp
index 3a71b5300..1c5d2983f 100644
--- a/src/V3EmitMk.cpp
+++ b/src/V3EmitMk.cpp
@@ -494,7 +494,7 @@ public:
     }
 
     void putMakeClassEntry(V3OutMkFile& of, const string& name) {
-        of.puts("\t" + V3Os::filenameNonDirExt(name) + " \\\n");
+        of.puts("  " + V3Os::filenameNonDirExt(name) + " \\\n");
         ++m_putClassCount;
     }
 
@@ -618,7 +618,6 @@ public:
             }
         }
 
-        of.puts("\n");
         of.putsHeader();
     }
 
@@ -643,17 +642,16 @@ public:
         }
         of.puts("\n### Constants...\n");
         of.puts("# Perl executable (from $PERL, defaults to 'perl' if not set)\n");
-        of.puts("PERL = " + V3OutFormatter::quoteNameControls(V3Options::getenvPERL()) + "\n");
+        of.putSet("PERL", V3OutFormatter::quoteNameControls(V3Options::getenvPERL()));
         of.puts("# Python3 executable (from $PYTHON3, defaults to 'python3' if not set)\n");
-        of.puts("PYTHON3 = " + V3OutFormatter::quoteNameControls(V3Options::getenvPYTHON3())
-                + "\n");
+        of.putSet("PYTHON3", V3OutFormatter::quoteNameControls(V3Options::getenvPYTHON3()));
         of.puts("# Path to Verilator kit (from $VERILATOR_ROOT)\n");
-        of.puts("VERILATOR_ROOT = "
-                + V3OutFormatter::quoteNameControls(V3Options::getenvVERILATOR_ROOT()) + "\n");
+        of.putSet("VERILATOR_ROOT",
+                  V3OutFormatter::quoteNameControls(V3Options::getenvVERILATOR_ROOT()));
         of.puts("# SystemC include directory with systemc.h (from $SYSTEMC_INCLUDE)\n");
-        of.puts("SYSTEMC_INCLUDE ?= "s + V3Options::getenvSYSTEMC_INCLUDE() + "\n");
+        of.putSetQ("SYSTEMC_INCLUDE", V3Options::getenvSYSTEMC_INCLUDE());
         of.puts("# SystemC library directory with libsystemc.a (from $SYSTEMC_LIBDIR)\n");
-        of.puts("SYSTEMC_LIBDIR ?= "s + V3Options::getenvSYSTEMC_LIBDIR() + "\n");
+        of.putSetQ("SYSTEMC_LIBDIR", V3Options::getenvSYSTEMC_LIBDIR());
 
         // Only check it if we really need the value
         if (v3Global.opt.systemC() && !V3Options::systemCFound()) {
@@ -664,22 +662,22 @@ public:
 
         of.puts("\n### Switches...\n");
         of.puts("# C++ code coverage  0/1 (from --prof-c)\n");
-        of.puts("VM_PROFC = "s + ((v3Global.opt.profC()) ? "1" : "0") + "\n");
+        of.putSet("VM_PROFC", ((v3Global.opt.profC()) ? "1" : "0"));
         of.puts("# SystemC output mode?  0/1 (from --sc)\n");
-        of.puts("VM_SC = "s + ((v3Global.opt.systemC()) ? "1" : "0") + "\n");
+        of.putSet("VM_SC", ((v3Global.opt.systemC()) ? "1" : "0"));
         of.puts("# Legacy or SystemC output mode?  0/1 (from --sc)\n");
-        of.puts("VM_SP_OR_SC = $(VM_SC)\n");
+        of.putSet("VM_SP_OR_SC", "$(VM_SC)");
         of.puts("# Deprecated\n");
-        of.puts("VM_PCLI = "s + (v3Global.opt.systemC() ? "0" : "1") + "\n");
+        of.putSet("VM_PCLI", (v3Global.opt.systemC() ? "0" : "1"));
         of.puts(
             "# Deprecated: SystemC architecture to find link library path (from $SYSTEMC_ARCH)\n");
         of.puts("VM_SC_TARGET_ARCH = "s + V3Options::getenvSYSTEMC_ARCH() + "\n");
 
         of.puts("\n### Vars...\n");
         of.puts("# Design prefix (from --prefix)\n");
-        of.puts("VM_PREFIX = "s + v3Global.opt.prefix() + "\n");
+        of.putSet("VM_PREFIX", v3Global.opt.prefix());
         of.puts("# Module prefix (from --prefix)\n");
-        of.puts("VM_MODPREFIX = "s + v3Global.opt.modPrefix() + "\n");
+        of.putSet("VM_MODPREFIX", v3Global.opt.modPrefix());
 
         of.puts("# User CFLAGS (from -CFLAGS on Verilator command line)\n");
         of.puts("VM_USER_CFLAGS = \\\n");
@@ -689,13 +687,13 @@ public:
                     + "\"' \\\n");
         if (!v3Global.opt.libCreate().empty()) of.puts("\t-fPIC \\\n");
         const V3StringList& cFlags = v3Global.opt.cFlags();
-        for (const string& i : cFlags) of.puts("\t" + i + " \\\n");
+        for (const string& i : cFlags) of.puts("  " + i + " \\\n");
         of.puts("\n");
 
         of.puts("# User LDLIBS (from -LDFLAGS on Verilator command line)\n");
         of.puts("VM_USER_LDLIBS = \\\n");
         const V3StringList& ldLibs = v3Global.opt.ldLibs();
-        for (const string& i : ldLibs) of.puts("\t" + i + " \\\n");
+        for (const string& i : ldLibs) of.puts("  " + i + " \\\n");
         of.puts("\n");
 
         V3StringSet dirs;
@@ -703,7 +701,7 @@ public:
         of.puts("VM_USER_CLASSES = \\\n");
         const V3StringSet& cppFiles = v3Global.opt.cppFiles();
         for (const auto& cppfile : cppFiles) {
-            of.puts("\t" + V3Os::filenameNonDirExt(cppfile) + " \\\n");
+            of.puts("  " + V3Os::filenameNonDirExt(cppfile) + " \\\n");
             const string dir
                 = V3Os::filenameRelativePath(V3Os::filenameDir(cppfile), v3Global.opt.makeDir());
             dirs.insert(dir);
@@ -714,10 +712,10 @@ public:
 
         of.puts("# User .cpp directories (from .cpp's on Verilator command line)\n");
         of.puts("VM_USER_DIR = \\\n");
-        for (const auto& i : dirs) of.puts("\t" + i + " \\\n");
+        for (const auto& i : dirs) of.puts("  " + i + " \\\n");
         of.puts("\n");
 
-        of.puts("\n### Default rules...\n");
+        of.puts("### Default rules...\n");
         of.puts("# Include list of all generated classes\n");
         of.puts("include " + v3Global.opt.prefix() + "_classes.mk\n");
         if (v3Global.opt.hierTop()) {
@@ -792,7 +790,6 @@ public:
                     + " libverilated.a $(VM_PREFIX)__ALL.a\n");
         }
 
-        of.puts("\n");
         of.putsHeader();
     }
 
@@ -818,12 +815,12 @@ class EmitMkHierVerilation final {
         of.puts("VM_HIER_VERILATOR := " + verilator_wrapper + "\n");
         of.puts("VM_HIER_INPUT_FILES := \\\n");
         const V3StringList& vFiles = v3Global.opt.vFiles();
-        for (const string& i : vFiles) of.puts("\t" + V3Os::filenameRealPath(i) + " \\\n");
+        for (const string& i : vFiles) of.puts("  " + V3Os::filenameRealPath(i) + " \\\n");
         of.puts("\n");
         const V3StringSet& libraryFiles = v3Global.opt.libraryFiles();
         of.puts("VM_HIER_VERILOG_LIBS := \\\n");
         for (const string& i : libraryFiles) {
-            of.puts("\t" + V3Os::filenameRealPath(i) + " \\\n");
+            of.puts("  " + V3Os::filenameRealPath(i) + " \\\n");
         }
         of.puts("\n");
     }
@@ -851,7 +848,7 @@ class EmitMkHierVerilation final {
             = m_planp->hierBlocksSorted();  // leaf comes first
         // List in order of leaf-last order so that linker can resolve dependency
         for (const auto& block : vlstd::reverse_view(blocks)) {
-            of.puts("\t" + block->hierLibFilename(true) + " \\\n");
+            of.puts("  " + block->hierLibFilename(true) + " \\\n");
         }
         of.puts("\n");
 
diff --git a/src/V3File.h b/src/V3File.h
index 1470ec4eb..5c75ed1a5 100644
--- a/src/V3File.h
+++ b/src/V3File.h
@@ -389,6 +389,14 @@ public:
     // No automatic indentation yet.
     void puts(const char* strg) { putsNoTracking(strg); }
     void puts(const string& strg) { putsNoTracking(strg); }
+    // Put VARIABLE = VALUE
+    void putSet(const string& var, const string& value) {
+        puts(VString::dot(var + " =", " ", value) + "\n");
+    }
+    // Put VARIABLE ?= VALUE
+    void putSetQ(const string& var, const string& value) {
+        puts(VString::dot(var + " ?=", " ", value) + "\n");
+    }
 };
 
 class V3OutScFile final : public V3OutCFile {