diff --git a/msdos/sed1v2.inp b/msdos/sed1v2.inp
index 1b96cc7ddc4..e7561f49889 100644
--- a/msdos/sed1v2.inp
+++ b/msdos/sed1v2.inp
@@ -295,3 +295,11 @@ s| -I\. -I\$(srcdir)| -I.|
 /\$(CC) -o \$@.tmp/s/\$@.tmp/\$@/
 /mv \$@.tmp \$@/d
 /^top_builddir =*/s/@top_builddir@/../
+# While this variable is named abs_top_builddir, the distinction is
+# only relevant when Emacs is undergoing cross-compilation.
+/^abs_top_builddir =*/s/@abs_top_builddir@/../
+# In fact, this leads to errors where Make protests that the
+# command line is ``too long'', so edit the lisp.mk stuff to
+# not specify an absolute file name.
+s/\$(abs_top_builddir)\/src\/lisp.mk/lisp.mk/
+# But this still doesn't work.