diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index a35e2fac1..e30db85a0 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 
 EPOCH_TEST_COMMIT	:= 78e6667ae2d67aad100b28ee9580b41b7a24e667
 OUTPUT_DIRNAME		?= output/
+SHELL			?= $(shell command -v bash 2>/dev/null) # this is due to debain using `ash`
 DOC_FILENAME		?= oci-runtime-spec
-SHELL			?= $(shell command -v bash 2>/dev/null)
 DOCKER			?= $(shell command -v docker 2>/dev/null)
 PANDOC			?= $(shell command -v pandoc 2>/dev/null)
 ifeq "$(strip $(PANDOC))" ''