diff --git a/config.tests/unix/makeabs b/config.tests/unix/makeabs
index d2f65d19e9c8c483087ccb1c211a9a90f95d47e1..f1d8a4056f2ccac2ac91e93c4bbf73ec9efa7ad7 100755
--- a/config.tests/unix/makeabs
+++ b/config.tests/unix/makeabs
@@ -2,14 +2,7 @@
 
 FILE="$1"
 RES="$FILE"
-
-CUT_ARG="-b1"
-if [ `uname -s` = "QNX" ]; then
-    # QNX does not understand "-b1"
-    CUT_ARG="-c1"
-fi
-
-if [ `echo $FILE | cut $CUT_ARG` = "/" ]; then
+if [ -z "${FILE##/*}" ]; then
     true
 elif [ "$OSTYPE" = "msys" -a -z "${FILE##[a-zA-Z]:[/\\]*}" ]; then
     true