configure: error: no usable dependency style found

[Valery Ushakov <uwe%stderr.spb.ru@localhost>]

Building hpcsh on Ubuntu 14.04 I get:

  checking dependency style of g++... none
  configure: error: no usable dependency style found
  *** [auto-build.h] Error code 1

  nbmake[8]: stopped in .../src/external/gpl3/gcc/usr.bin/backend
  1 error


And in obj/hpcsh/external/gpl3/gcc/usr.bin/backend/.ab/config.log

  configure:9013: checking dependency style of g++
  configure:9044: trying gcc3
  | depmode=gcc3 source=sub/conftest.c object=sub/conftest.o depfile=sub/conftest.Po tmpdepfile=sub/conftest.TPo /bin/sh ./depcomp g++ -c -o sub/conftest.o sub/conftest.c
  configure:9087: failure, diagnostics are:
  |  sub/conftst6.h
  | sub/conftst6.h:
  | sub/conftest.o: sub/conftest.c /usr/include/stdc-predef.h sub/conftst1.h \
  | nbmake[1]: no system rules (sys.mk).
  | 
  | nbmake[1]: stopped in .../obj/hpcsh/external/gpl3/gcc/usr.bin/backend/.ab/conftest.dir

The program it tries to run is:

  .../tools/bin/nbmake -s -f confmf

but configure cleans up MAKEFLAGS set by the nbmake-hpcsh wrapper that
normally provides the -m ../src/share/mk location to nbmake.

Earlier in the log I can see an assortment of

  checking dependency style of cc... none
  checking dependency style of c++... none
  checking dependency style of c++... gcc3
  checking dependency style of cc... none
  checking dependency style of g++... gcc3
  checking dependency style of g++... none

Any ideas?

-uwe