diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index e3e5c7ef0..46465f8f9 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 	- allow spaces in group names
 	- fix bug in memory allocation of special doc stuff
 	- Jeff Johnson's mode/dev fixes
+	- clean up buildroot
 
 2.4.101 -> 2.4.102:
 	- fixed spelling of "instchangelog" in lib-rpmrc.in
diff --git a/build/files.c b/build/files.c
index ed4050d34..7ef3a5402 100644
--- a/build/files.c
+++ b/build/files.c
@@ -426,6 +426,7 @@ static int processPackageFiles(Spec spec, Package pkg, int installSpecialDoc)
 	if (installSpecialDoc) {
 	    doScript(spec, RPMBUILD_STRINGBUF, "%doc", pkg->specialDoc, 0);
 	}
+
 	/* fl.current now takes on "ownership" of the specialDocAttrRec */
 	/* allocated string data.                                       */
 	fl.current = specialDocAttrRec;
@@ -708,28 +709,13 @@ static int addFile(struct FileList *fl, char *name, struct stat *statp)
 {
     char fileName[BUFSIZ];
     char diskName[BUFSIZ];
-    char *copyTo, *copyFrom, copied;
     char *prefixTest, *prefixPtr;
     struct stat statbuf;
     int_16 fileMode;
     int fileUid, fileGid;
     char *fileUname, *fileGname;
     
-    /* Copy to fileName, eliminate duplicate "/" and trailing "/" */
-    copyTo = fileName;
-    copied = '\0';
-    copyFrom = name;
-    while (*copyFrom) {
-	if (*copyFrom != '/' || copied != '/') {
-	    *copyTo++ = copied = *copyFrom;
-	}
-	copyFrom++;
-    }
-    *copyTo = '\0';
-    copyTo--;
-    if ((copyTo != fileName) && (*copyTo == '/')) {
-	*copyTo = '\0';
-    }
+    strcpy(fileName, cleanFileName(name));
 
     if (fl->inFtw) {
 	/* Any buildRoot is already prepended */
diff --git a/build/misc.c b/build/misc.c
index 7437f3d2a..72c7ddeb1 100644
--- a/build/misc.c
+++ b/build/misc.c
@@ -200,3 +200,27 @@ StringBuf getOutputFrom(char *dir, char *argv[],
 
     return readBuff;
 }
+
+char *cleanFileName(char *name)
+{
+    static char res[BUFSIZ];
+    char *copyTo, *copyFrom, copied;
+
+    /* Copy to fileName, eliminate duplicate "/" and trailing "/" */
+    copyTo = res;
+    copied = '\0';
+    copyFrom = name;
+    while (*copyFrom) {
+	if (*copyFrom != '/' || copied != '/') {
+	    *copyTo++ = copied = *copyFrom;
+	}
+	copyFrom++;
+    }
+    *copyTo = '\0';
+    copyTo--;
+    if ((copyTo != res) && (*copyTo == '/')) {
+	*copyTo = '\0';
+    }
+
+    return res;
+}
diff --git a/build/misc.h b/build/misc.h
index 1ac941509..4412fbf44 100644
--- a/build/misc.h
+++ b/build/misc.h
@@ -23,5 +23,6 @@ int parseNum(char *line, int *res);
 StringBuf getOutputFrom(char *dir, char *argv[],
 			char *writePtr, int writeBytesLeft,
 			int failNonZero);
+char *cleanFileName(char *name);
 
 #endif
diff --git a/build/parsePreamble.c b/build/parsePreamble.c
index de2667569..e88d530f1 100644
--- a/build/parsePreamble.c
+++ b/build/parsePreamble.c
@@ -354,10 +354,11 @@ static int handlePreambleTag(Spec spec, Package pkg, int tag, char *macro,
 	SINGLE_TOKEN_ONLY;
 	if (! spec->buildRoot) {
 	    if (rpmGetVar(RPMVAR_BUILDROOT)) {
-		spec->buildRoot = strdup(rpmGetVar(RPMVAR_BUILDROOT));
+		spec->buildRoot = rpmGetVar(RPMVAR_BUILDROOT);
 	    } else {
-		spec->buildRoot = strdup(field);
+		spec->buildRoot = field;
 	    }
+	    spec->buildRoot = strdup(cleanFileName(spec->buildRoot));
 	}
 	if (!strcmp(spec->buildRoot, "/")) {
 	    rpmError(RPMERR_BADSPEC,