diff --git a/include/host-build.mk b/include/host-build.mk
index 7f76eb1a2f5..f06dd802301 100644
--- a/include/host-build.mk
+++ b/include/host-build.mk
@@ -198,8 +198,8 @@ ifndef DUMP
 
     ifneq ($(CONFIG_AUTOREMOVE),)
       host-compile:
-		$(FIND) $(HOST_BUILD_DIR) -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -not '(' -type f -and -name '.*' -and -size 0 ')' | \
-			$(XARGS) rm -rf
+		$(FIND) $(HOST_BUILD_DIR) -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -not '(' -type f -and -name '.*' -and -size 0 ')' -print0 | \
+			$(XARGS) -0 rm -rf
     endif
   endef
 endif
diff --git a/include/package.mk b/include/package.mk
index 509ef61e088..5861533bf50 100644
--- a/include/package.mk
+++ b/include/package.mk
@@ -259,8 +259,8 @@ define Build/CoreTargets
   ifneq ($(CONFIG_AUTOREMOVE),)
     compile:
 		-touch -r $(PKG_BUILD_DIR)/.built $(PKG_BUILD_DIR)/.autoremove 2>/dev/null >/dev/null
-		$(FIND) $(PKG_BUILD_DIR) -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -not '(' -type f -and -name '.*' -and -size 0 ')' -and -not -name '.pkgdir' | \
-			$(XARGS) rm -rf
+		$(FIND) $(PKG_BUILD_DIR) -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -not '(' -type f -and -name '.*' -and -size 0 ')' -and -not -name '.pkgdir'  -print0 | \
+			$(XARGS) -0 rm -rf
   endif
 endef