diff --git a/doc/abi-check.in b/doc/abi-check.in
index ee431510cd..25e4e6ee71 100755
--- a/doc/abi-check.in
+++ b/doc/abi-check.in
@@ -1,175 +1,178 @@
 #!@BASH_PATH@
 #
 # Copyright 2011-2025 the Pacemaker project contributors
 #
 # The version control history for this file may have further details.
 #
 # This source code is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 2
 # or later (GPLv2+) WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY.
 #
 
 #
 # abi-check [-u] <package-name> <version> [...]
 #
 # Build ABI dumps for all listed versions. If exactly two are given,
 # build an ABI compatibility report for them, and if -u is given,
 # upload it to the website.
 #
 
 # Where to checkout the source for a version
 ABI_CHECKOUT="abi/src"
 
 # Where to install the checkout build
 ABI_INSTALL="abi/install"
 
 # Where to build ABI dumps
 ABI_DUMPS="abi/dumps"
 
 # Where to build ABI reports
 ABI_REPORTS="abi/compat_reports"
 
 # If the argument is of form x.y.z, print Pacemaker-x.y.z,
 # otherwise print the argument (presumably a commit ID) directly
 tag() {
     if [[ "$1" =~ ^[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3} ]]; then
         echo "Pacemaker-$1"
     else
         echo "$1"
     fi
 }
 
+# sed -i isn't portable
 sed_in_place() {
+    # Preserve permissions
     cp -p "$1" "$1.$$"
+
     sed -e "$2" "$1" > "$1.$$"
     mv "$1.$$" "$1"
 }
 
 # Strip anything up to and including a dash from the argument
 version() {
     echo "$1" | sed s:.*-::
 }
 
+checkout_commit() {
+    local TAG="$1"
+
+    echo "Checking out $TAG to $ABI_CHECKOUT..."
+    rm -rf "$ABI_CHECKOUT"
+    ( cd .. ; git archive --prefix "doc/${ABI_CHECKOUT}/" "$TAG" | tar x )
+    [ $? -eq 0 ] || exit
+
+    # Remove "doc" from SUBDIRS in Makefile (but why?)
+    sed_in_place "${ABI_CHECKOUT}/Makefile.am" 's: doc::'
+}
+
+build_checkout() {
+    echo "Building to $ABI_INSTALL..."
+    ( cd "${ABI_CHECKOUT}" && ./autogen.sh \
+        && ./configure --quiet --disable-fatal-warnings )
+    make -C "${ABI_CHECKOUT}" V=0 DESTDIR="$(pwd)/$ABI_INSTALL" install
+    [ $? -eq 0 ] || exit
+}
+
 # Create configuration file for ABI dumper
 abi_config() {
     PACKAGE="$1"
     VERSION="$2"
     DESC="$3"
 
     # Create header
     DESC="${ABI_CHECKOUT}/${VERSION}.xml"
     cat <<EOF > "$DESC"
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
 <descriptor>
 <version>
     $VERSION
 </version>
 <headers>
         $(pwd)/${ABI_INSTALL}/usr/include/${PACKAGE}/crm
 </headers>
 <libs>
 EOF
 
-    # Build checkout, installing into subdirectory
-    ( cd "$ABI_CHECKOUT" && ./autogen.sh && ./configure --disable-fatal-warnings )
-    make -C "$ABI_CHECKOUT" V=0 DESTDIR="$ABI_INSTALL" install
-    if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
-        echo "Build for $TAG failed. Repair, populate <libs/> and re-run: "
-        echo "  abi-compliance-checker -l $PACKAGE -dump_abi $DESC"
-        echo ""
-        echo "To find libraries after building:"
-        echo "  find $ABI_INSTALL -name "*.so" -print"
-        exit 1
-    fi
-
     # Add library names to configuration file
     find "$ABI_INSTALL" -name "*.so" -print >> $DESC
 
     # Add footer
     cat <<EOF >> "$DESC"
 </libs>
 </descriptor>
 EOF
 }
 
 # Dump the ABI for a particular version
 extract_one() {
     TAG="$1"
     VERSION="$2"
 
     # If dump already exists, remove it if dumping HEAD (which changes),
     # otherwise use it (a dump for a particular commit stays the same).
     TARBALL="${ABI_DUMPS}/${PACKAGE}_$VERSION.abi.tar.gz"
     if [ "$VERSION" = HEAD ]; then
         rm -rf "$TARBALL"
     elif [ -f "$TARBALL" ]; then
         return
     fi
 
-    echo "Building ABI dump for $*"
-
-    # Get a clean checkout at the desired commit
-    rm -rf "$ABI_CHECKOUT"
-    ( cd .. ; git archive --prefix "doc/${ABI_CHECKOUT}/" "$TAG" | tar xv )
-    if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
-        exit
-    fi
-
-    # Remove "doc" from SUBDIRS in Makefile (but why?)
-    sed_in_place "${ABI_CHECKOUT}/Makefile.am" 's: doc::'
+    checkout_commit "$TAG"
+    build_checkout "$TAG"
 
     # Run ABI dump
+    echo "Building ABI dump for $TAG"
     abi_config "$PACKAGE" "$VERSION" "$DESC"
     abi-compliance-checker -l "$PACKAGE" -dump_abi "$DESC" \
         -dump-path "${ABI_DUMPS}/${PACKAGE}_${VERSION}.abi.tar.gz"
 
     # Clean up
     rm -rf "$ABI_CHECKOUT" "$ABI_INSTALL"
 }
 
 extract_all() {
     for arg in $*; do
         T=$(tag "$arg")
         V=$(version "$T")
         extract_one "$T" "$V"
     done
 }
 
 die() {
 	echo "$@" 1>&2
 	exit 1
 }
 
 which git 2>/dev/null || die "abi-check: git must be installed"
 git rev-parse --git-dir >/dev/null 2>/dev/null	\
 	|| die "abi-check: must be run from git checkout"
 
 UPLOAD=0
 if [ "$1" = "-u" ]; then
     UPLOAD=1; shift
 fi
 
 PACKAGE="$1"; shift
 
 extract_all "$@"
 
 if [ $# -eq 2 ]; then
     V1=$(version "$1")
     V2=$(version "$2")
 
     (cd abi && abi-compliance-checker -l ${PACKAGE} \
         -d1 "${ABI_DUMPS#abi/}/${PACKAGE}_${V1}.abi.tar.gz" \
         -d2 "${ABI_DUMPS#abi/}/${PACKAGE}_${V2}.abi.tar.gz")
     if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
         echo "WARNING: compliance checker exited $?"
     fi
 
     # Top-level rsync destination for package's file uploads (no trailing slash)
     : ${RSYNC_PACKAGE_DEST:=sites.clusterlabs.org:/var/www/html/projects/$PACKAGE}
 
     REPORT="${ABI_REPORTS}/${PACKAGE}/${V1}_to_${V2}"
     if [ $UPLOAD -eq 1 ] && [ -d "$REPORT" ]; then
         rsync -azxlSD --progress "$REPORT" "${RSYNC_PACKAGE_DEST}/abi/"
     fi
 fi
 
 # vim: set expandtab tabstop=8 softtabstop=4 shiftwidth=4 textwidth=80: