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{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"DiscussionForumPosting","headline":"macOS framework installs can break if `DESTDIR` specified during builds","articleBody":"# Bug report\n\n### Bug description:\n\nThe Makefile build target for the shared Python library in a macOS framework build can include an incorrect library install name if the `DESTDIR` Makefile variable is set. The symptom is that launching the installed python3.x binary will result in a crash with the system unable to find the Python shared library; the path of the library will mistakenly include the `DESTDIR` path prefix.\n\nThe `DESTDIR` variable is often used in Makefile-based build pipelines to allow build artifacts to be installed temporarily in a directory tree other than the intended system installation location which could otherwise affect the system environment on the build platform. For a long time now, the value of `DESTDIR`, if specified, has been included in the install name path of the framework library. That hasn't caused a problem as long as the build is done in multiple make steps, for example:\n\n```\n./configure --enable-framework ...\nmake ... \nmake install DESTDIR=release_directory\n```\n\nBut if the first make were skipped such that the `make install` step causes the Python library to be linked, the `DESTDIR` path prefix will be include in the install name and the installed framework will not work. This could also happen if the `make install` step causes the library to be relinked due to a Makefile dependency issue, which is how this problem was discovered.\n\nThe solution is simple: don't include `DESTDIR` in the `-install_name` argument. Note that the very similar iOS framework build rule does not have this problem.\n\n\n### CPython versions tested on:\n\nCPython main branch\n\n### Operating systems tested on:\n\nmacOS\n\n\u003c!-- gh-linked-prs -->\n### Linked PRs\n* gh-149352\n* gh-149354\n* gh-149355\n\u003c!-- /gh-linked-prs -->\n","author":{"url":"https://github.com/ned-deily","@type":"Person","name":"ned-deily"},"datePublished":"2026-05-04T09:54:09Z","url":"https://github.com/python/cpython/issues/149351"}