diff --git a/notwa-util/cosmopolitan-bootstrap11 b/notwa-util/cosmopolitan-bootstrap11
index 0dc4324..3defec8 100755
--- a/notwa-util/cosmopolitan-bootstrap11
+++ b/notwa-util/cosmopolitan-bootstrap11
@@ -25,22 +25,9 @@ if [ ! -e /cosmopolitan-bootstrap.done ]; then
     commit "$COSMO_COMMIT" \
     flavor "$COSMO_FLAVOR" \
     mode "$mode" \
- && printf '%s\n' >makeit '#!/usr/bin/env sh' \
-    "build/bootstrap/make.com -j2 MODE='$mode'"' "$@"' \
- && printf '%s\n' >expand '#!/usr/bin/env sh' \
-    "o='o/$mode' once=false" \
-    'for f; do g="${f#?//}"; case "$f" in' \
-    '(a//*) f="$o/ape/$g";;' \
-    '(b//*) f="$o/tool/build/$g";;' \
-    '(e//*) f="$o/examples/$g";;' \
-    '(o//*) f="$o/$g";;' \
-    '(t//*) f="$o/third_party/$g";;' \
-    '(T//*) f="third_party/$g";;' \
-    'esac; $once && set -- "$@" "$f" || set -- "$f"; once=true; done' \
-    '"$@"' \
- && chmod +x makeit expand \
- && ./expand ./makeit a//ape.elf \
- && rebuild() { ./expand ./makeit "$@" && ./expand cp -int build/bootstrap "$@" ;} \
+ && export mode \
+ && expand makeit a//ape.elf \
+ && rebuild() { expand makeit "$@" && expand cp -int build/bootstrap "$@" ;} \
  && rebuild \
   t//make/make.com          b//ar.com                 b//chmod.com              \
   b//cocmd.com              b//compile.com            b//cp.com                 \
@@ -48,7 +35,7 @@ if [ ! -e /cosmopolitan-bootstrap.done ]; then
   b//mkdeps.com             b//mkdir.com              b//package.com            \
   b//pwd.com                b//rm.com                 b//touch.com              \
   b//unbundle.com           b//zipcopy.com            b//zipobj.com             \
- && ./expand install -m0755 a//ape.elf /usr/bin/ape \
+ && expand install -m0755 a//ape.elf /usr/bin/ape \
  && touch /cosmopolitan-bootstrap.done \
  || exit $?
 fi
diff --git a/notwa-util/cosmopolitan-install11 b/notwa-util/cosmopolitan-install11
index f910709..4d743e8 100755
--- a/notwa-util/cosmopolitan-install11
+++ b/notwa-util/cosmopolitan-install11
@@ -4,10 +4,11 @@ if [ ! -e /cosmopolitan-install.done ]; then
 : \
  && cd /root/cosmopolitan \
  && . ./env \
+ && export mode \
 \
  && { [ ! -d dist ] || rm -r dist ;} \
  && mkdir -p "dist/$flavor/public" \
- && ./expand cp -int "dist/$flavor" \
+ && expand cp -int "dist/$flavor" \
   a//ape-copy-self.o        a//ape-no-modify-self.o   a//ape.elf                \
   a//ape.lds                a//ape.macho              a//ape.o                  \
   o//cosmopolitan.a         o//libc/crt/crt.o         o/cosmopolitan.h          \
@@ -16,7 +17,7 @@ if [ ! -e /cosmopolitan-install.done ]; then
  && install -m0755 "dist/$flavor/ape.elf" /usr/bin/ape \
  && install -m0755 -t /usr/bin tool/scripts/cosmocc tool/scripts/cosmoc++ \
  && find libc -name '*.h' >headers.txt \
- && ./expand tar zcf /tmp/headers.tar.gz -T headers.txt \
+ && expand tar zcf /tmp/headers.tar.gz -T headers.txt \
   libc/integral             T//gdtoa/gdtoa.h          T//getopt/getopt.h        \
   T//linenoise/linenoise.h  T//musl/crypt.h           T//musl/fnmatch.h         \
   T//musl/lockf.h           T//musl/passwd.h          T//musl/rand48.h          \
@@ -31,7 +32,7 @@ if [ ! -e /cosmopolitan-install.done ]; then
     bin/x86_64-linux-musl-g++ \
     bin/x86_64-linux-musl-ld.bfd \
  && dedupe dist "$COSMO/dist/" "$flavor/cosmopolitan.h" \
- && ./expand cp -int /tmp/bin \
+ && expand cp -int /tmp/bin \
   t//make/make.com          t//unzip/unzip.com        t//zip/zip.com            \
   b//ar.com                 b//chmod.com              b//cocmd.com              \
   b//compile.com            b//cp.com                 b//echo.com               \
diff --git a/notwa-util/cosmopolitan11 b/notwa-util/cosmopolitan11
index 275fae4..e2a8e77 100755
--- a/notwa-util/cosmopolitan11
+++ b/notwa-util/cosmopolitan11
@@ -13,16 +13,14 @@ if [ ! -e /cosmopolitan.done ]; then
     COSMO_DIST "/opt/cosmo/dist/$COSMO_FLAVOR" \
 \
  && . ./env \
- && sed -i -e "s_MODE='[^']*'_MODE='$mode'_g" makeit \
- && sed -i -e "s_o='o/[^']*'_o='o/$mode'_g" expand \
-\
- && { ./makeit depend || find o -name '*.o' -delete ;} \
- && ./makeit "o/$mode/third_party/make/make.com" \
+ && export mode \
+ && { makeit depend || find o -name '*.o' -delete ;} \
+ && makeit "o/$mode/third_party/make/make.com" \
  && cp -int build/bootstrap "o/$mode/third_party/make/make.com" \
 \
  && if [ "$COSMO_FLAVOR" = dbg ] \
     ;then : \
-     && ./expand ./makeit \
+     && expand makeit \
   a//ape-copy-self.o        a//ape-no-modify-self.o   a//ape.elf \
   a//ape.lds                a//ape.macho              a//ape.o \
   a//public/ape.lds         b//ar.com                 b//chmod.com \
@@ -35,7 +33,7 @@ if [ ! -e /cosmopolitan.done ]; then
   o//libc/crt/crt.o         o/cosmopolitan.h          t//make/make.com \
   t//unzip/unzip.com        t//zip/zip.com \
     ;else : \
-     && ./makeit all \
+     && makeit all \
     ;fi \
  && touch /cosmopolitan.done \
  || exit $?
diff --git a/notwa-util/doit11 b/notwa-util/doit11
index 598d655..ffa3999 100755
--- a/notwa-util/doit11
+++ b/notwa-util/doit11
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ YICES_SHA256=d4aa3bedbc143516f8db57f189f96e09a1771f31215c16b4c13bcdca38f592e3 \
 if [ ! -e /notwa-util.done ]; then
 : \
  && cd /vagrant/notwa-util \
- && install -p -m 0755 -t /usr/local/bin/ acquire dedupe ofc quickconf shed \
+ && install -p -m 0755 -t /usr/local/bin/ acquire dedupe expand makeit ofc quickconf shed \
  && touch /notwa-util.done \
  || exit $?
 fi
diff --git a/notwa-util/expand b/notwa-util/expand
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..5c28896
--- /dev/null
+++ b/notwa-util/expand
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env sh
+o=o/"$mode" once=false
+for f; do g="${f#?//}"; case "$f" in
+(a//*) f="$o/ape/$g";;
+(b//*) f="$o/tool/build/$g";;
+(e//*) f="$o/examples/$g";;
+(o//*) f="$o/$g";;
+(t//*) f="$o/third_party/$g";;
+(T//*) f="third_party/$g";;
+esac; $once && set -- "$@" "$f" || set -- "$f"; once=true; done
+"$@"
diff --git a/notwa-util/makeit b/notwa-util/makeit
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..4dd718e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/notwa-util/makeit
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env sh
+build/bootstrap/make.com -j2 MODE="$mode" "$@"