diff --git a/doc/Makefile.am b/doc/Makefile.am
index 98d45448a..e5ed32b62 100644
--- a/doc/Makefile.am
+++ b/doc/Makefile.am
@@ -28,12 +28,16 @@ EXAMPLE_SMOB_FILES = \
 OLDFMT = oldfmt.c
 
 dist-hook:
+	cp $(srcdir)/$(OLDFMT) $(distdir)/
 	mkdir $(distdir)/example-smob
-	(cd $(srcdir); \
-	 cp $(OLDFMT) $(distdir); \
-	 dest="`cd $(distdir)/example-smob; pwd`"; \
-         cd example-smob; \
-	 cp $(EXAMPLE_SMOB_FILES) $$dest)
+	for f in $(EXAMPLE_SMOB_FILES); do \
+	  cp $(srcdir)/example-smob/$$f $(distdir)/example-smob/; \
+        done
+
+EXTRA_DIST = groupings.alist guile-api.alist
+
+# pending the papers from Robert Merkel
+# EXTRA_DIST = guile.1
 
 if MAINTAINER_MODE
 include $(top_srcdir)/am/maintainer-dirs