diff --git a/scripts/generate-kernel-patch b/scripts/generate-kernel-patch
index fbf736e19..4452843d7 100755
--- a/scripts/generate-kernel-patch
+++ b/scripts/generate-kernel-patch
@@ -105,19 +105,19 @@ EOF
 # Run the script specialize_patch with appropriate options on the patch
 # passed via stdin and send the specialized patch to stdout.
 function specialize_patch {
-  local arr ao
-  readarray -d ^ -t arr <<<"$1^^^^"
-  local kver=${arr[0]}
-  local distro=${arr[1]}
-  local release=${arr[2]}
-  readarray -d . -t arr <<<"$release..."
-  local releasevermajor="${arr[0]}"
-  local releaseverminor="${arr[1]}"
+  local ao
+  set -- ${1//^/ }
+  local kver=$1
+  local distro=$2
+  local release=$3
+  set -- ${release//./ }
+  local releasevermajor="$1"
+  local releaseverminor="$2"
   if [ -n "$releasevermajor" ]; then
       ao=(
-	  -v RHEL_MAJOR=$releasevermajor
-	  -v RHEL_MINOR=$releaseverminor
-	  -v RHEL_RELEASE_CODE=$((releasevermajor * 256 + releaseverminor))
+	  -v "RHEL_MAJOR=$releasevermajor"
+	  -v "RHEL_MINOR=$releaseverminor"
+	  -v "RHEL_RELEASE_CODE=$((releasevermajor * 256 + releaseverminor))"
       )
   fi
   if [ "${enable_specialize}" = "true" ]; then
@@ -225,12 +225,6 @@ fi
 # Strip patch level from the kernel version number.
 full_kver="$1"
 kver="$(kernel_version "$1")"
-# kver3: first three components of the version number.
-if [ "${1#2.}" != "$1" ]; then
-  kver3="$kver"
-else
-  kver3="$1"
-fi
 
 # Include fcst in the patch for kernel versions 2.6.33 and later.
 if kernel_version_le "2.6.37" "${kver}"; then
@@ -296,7 +290,6 @@ done
 
 # General kernel patches.
 
-scsi_exec_req_fifo_defined=0
 scst_io_context=0
 
 scst_03_public_headers="scst/include/scst.h scst/include/scst_const.h \
diff --git a/scripts/kernel-functions b/scripts/kernel-functions
index 8c78ea7d3..b3a70ada3 100644
--- a/scripts/kernel-functions
+++ b/scripts/kernel-functions
@@ -553,14 +553,14 @@ EOF
 
 function download_and_extract_distro_rpm {
     [ -n "$1" ] || return $?
-    local arr
-    readarray -d ^ -t arr <<<"$1^^^^"
-    local kver=${arr[0]}
-    local distro=${arr[1]}
-    local release=${arr[2]}
+    set -- ${1//^/ }
+    local kver=$1
+    local distro=$2
+    local release=$3
     (
 	cd "${kernel_downloads}" || exit $?
-	urls=($(get_srpm_urls "$distro" "$release" x86_64))
+	read -a urls -r <<<"$(get_srpm_urls "$distro" "$release" x86_64 |
+			      tr '\n' ' ')"
 	for url in "${urls[@]}"; do
 	    wget -q -nc "${url}/kernel-${kver}.src.rpm" && break
 	done
@@ -572,7 +572,7 @@ function download_and_extract_distro_rpm {
 	cd "${tmpdir}" &&
 	    rpm2cpio "${kernel_downloads}/kernel-${kver}.src.rpm" |
 		cpio -i --make-directories --quiet &&
-	    tar xaf linux-${kver}.tar.* &&
+	    tar xaf "linux-${kver}.tar."* &&
 	    mv "linux-${kver}" ".." &&
 	    cd "../linux-${kver}"
     ) || return $?
diff --git a/scripts/rhel-rpm-functions b/scripts/rhel-rpm-functions
index ffccee089..69e86aada 100644
--- a/scripts/rhel-rpm-functions
+++ b/scripts/rhel-rpm-functions
@@ -11,9 +11,7 @@ function get_srpm_urls() {
     distro="$1"
     releasever="$2"
     arch="$3"
-    IFS=.
-    set -- "$2"
-    unset IFS
+    set -- ${2//./ }
     releasevermajor="$1"
     releaseverminor="$2"
 
@@ -67,9 +65,7 @@ function get_rpm_urls() {
     distro="$1"
     releasever="$2"
     arch="$3"
-    IFS=.
-    set -- "$2"
-    unset IFS
+    set -- ${2//./ }
     releasevermajor="$1"
     releaseverminor="$2"