diff --git i/bootstrap.sh w/bootstrap.sh
index 36e92ff..86d6eff 100755
--- i/bootstrap.sh
+++ w/bootstrap.sh
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ rm -f config.log
 
 # Build bjam
 if test "x$BJAM" = x; then
-  echo -n "Building Boost.Build engine with toolset $TOOLSET... "
+  printf %s "Building Boost.Build engine with toolset $TOOLSET... "
   pwd=`pwd`
   (cd "$my_dir/tools/build/v2/engine" && ./build.sh "$TOOLSET") > bootstrap.log 2>&1
   if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
@@ -270,20 +270,20 @@ fi
 
 if test "x$flag_no_python" = x; then
     if test "x$PYTHON_VERSION" = x; then
-        echo -n "Detecting Python version... "
+        printf %s "Detecting Python version... "
         PYTHON_VERSION=`$PYTHON -c "import sys; print (\"%d.%d\" % (sys.version_info[0], sys.version_info[1]))"`
         echo $PYTHON_VERSION
     fi
 
     if test "x$PYTHON_ROOT" = x; then
-        echo -n "Detecting Python root... "
+        printf %s "Detecting Python root... "
         PYTHON_ROOT=`$PYTHON -c "import sys; print(sys.prefix)"`
         echo $PYTHON_ROOT
     fi    
 fi
 
 # Configure ICU
-echo -n "Unicode/ICU support for Boost.Regex?... "
+printf %s "Unicode/ICU support for Boost.Regex?... "
 if test "x$flag_icu" != xno; then
   if test "x$ICU_ROOT" = x; then
     COMMON_ICU_PATHS="/usr /usr/local /sw"
diff --git i/tools/boostbook/setup_boostbook.sh w/tools/boostbook/setup_boostbook.sh
index 0e79031..7ddddc9 100644
--- i/tools/boostbook/setup_boostbook.sh
+++ w/tools/boostbook/setup_boostbook.sh
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ fi
 
 DOCBOOK_XSL_DIR="$PWD/docbook-xsl-$DOCBOOK_XSL_VERSION"
 if test ! -d docbook-xsl-$DOCBOOK_XSL_VERSION; then
-  echo -n "Expanding DocBook XSLT Stylesheets into $DOCBOOK_XSL_DIR..."
+  printf %s "Expanding DocBook XSLT Stylesheets into $DOCBOOK_XSL_DIR..."
   gunzip -cd $DOCBOOK_XSL_TARBALL | tar xf -
   echo "done."
 fi
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ fi
 
 DOCBOOK_DTD_DIR="$PWD/docbook-dtd-$DOCBOOK_DTD_VERSION"
 if test ! -d docbook-dtd-$DOCBOOK_DTD_VERSION; then
-  echo -n "Expanding DocBook XML DTD into $DOCBOOK_DTD_DIR... "
+  printf %s "Expanding DocBook XML DTD into $DOCBOOK_DTD_DIR... "
   unzip -q $DOCBOOK_DTD_ZIP -d $DOCBOOK_DTD_DIR
   echo "done."
 fi
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ else
   fi
 
   if test ! -d $FOP_DIR; then
-    echo -n "Expanding FOP distribution into $FOP_DIR... ";
+    printf %s "Expanding FOP distribution into $FOP_DIR... ";
     gunzip -cd $FOP_TARBALL | tar xf -
     echo "done.";
   fi
@@ -127,12 +127,12 @@ if test -r "$HOME/user-config.jam"; then
   JAM_CONFIG_IN="user-config-backup.jam"
   cp $JAM_CONFIG_OUT user-config-backup.jam
   JAM_CONFIG_IN_TEMP="yes"
-  echo -n "Updating Boost.Jam configuration in $JAM_CONFIG_OUT... "
+  printf %s "Updating Boost.Jam configuration in $JAM_CONFIG_OUT... "
 
 elif test -r "$BOOST_ROOT/tools/build/v2/user-config.jam"; then
   JAM_CONFIG_IN="$BOOST_ROOT/tools/build/v2/user-config.jam";
   JAM_CONFIG_IN_TEMP="no"
-  echo -n "Writing Boost.Jam configuration to $JAM_CONFIG_OUT... "
+  printf %s "Writing Boost.Jam configuration to $JAM_CONFIG_OUT... "
 else
   echo "ERROR: Please set the BOOST_ROOT environment variable to refer to your"
   echo "Boost installation or copy user-config.jam into your home directory."
diff --git i/tools/build/v2/bootstrap.sh w/tools/build/v2/bootstrap.sh
index 5083551..c3a7eec 100755
--- i/tools/build/v2/bootstrap.sh
+++ w/tools/build/v2/bootstrap.sh
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ rm -f config.log
 
 # Build bjam
 if test "x$BJAM" = x; then
-  echo -n "Bootstrapping the build engine with toolset $TOOLSET... "
+  printf %s "Bootstrapping the build engine with toolset $TOOLSET... "
   pwd=`pwd`
   (cd "$my_dir/engine" && ./build.sh "$TOOLSET") > bootstrap.log 2>&1
   if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then