Since the update, when building py-matplotlib, I see GNU make (>= 3.80) or makepp (>= 1.19) is required to build FreeType2. Please try MAKE=<GNU make command name> ./configure or MAKE="makepp --norc-substitution" ./configure Extracting freetype-2.6.1.tar.gz Building freetype in build/freetype-2.6.1 P