diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index e53c807d84b958d8c77f0776c8c0c9a84cb3965a..ccaf3d2ffbb08e58e753fc538a7d678641a0cdcb 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@ CVS code -
 	  versions if nano is built without nanorc support.  Changes to
 	  configure.ac, doc/man/Makefile.am, and doc/man/fr/Makefile.am.
 	  (DLR)
+	- Simplify the commands that generate HTML documentation in
+	  order to remove unnecessary usage of cat.  Changes to
+	  doc/man/Makefile.am, doc/man/fr/Makefile.am, and
+	  doc/texinfo/Makefile.am. (DLR)
 - search.c:
   regexp_init()
 	- Don't assign rc's value via regcomp() until we've asserted
diff --git a/doc/man/Makefile.am b/doc/man/Makefile.am
index dbae113a6e2f9390e0c0f2e535a5712372ea89b9..4c6e87764bae705e5b2a2e8d4886f0ec35b5b313 100644
--- a/doc/man/Makefile.am
+++ b/doc/man/Makefile.am
@@ -16,10 +16,10 @@ nano_man_mans = nano.1 nanorc.5 rnano.1
 nano_built_sources = nano.1.html nanorc.5.html rnano.1.html
 
 nano.1.html: nano.1
-	cat $< | groff -t -mandoc -Thtml > $@
+	groff -t -mandoc -Thtml < $< > $@
 nanorc.5.html: nanorc.5
-	cat $< | groff -t -mandoc -Thtml > $@
+	groff -t -mandoc -Thtml < $< > $@
 rnano.1.html: rnano.1
-	cat $< | groff -t -mandoc -Thtml > $@
+	groff -t -mandoc -Thtml < $< > $@
 
 EXTRA_DIST = $(nano_man_mans) $(nano_built_sources)
diff --git a/doc/man/fr/Makefile.am b/doc/man/fr/Makefile.am
index 0b9165ceb20a5a7cb23861dc4f8aa86a1095689d..d898b102f12c24e54c06eb68cba5703da573eb65 100644
--- a/doc/man/fr/Makefile.am
+++ b/doc/man/fr/Makefile.am
@@ -12,10 +12,10 @@ nano_man_mans = nano.1 nanorc.5 rnano.1
 nano_built_sources = nano.1.html nanorc.5.html rnano.1.html
 
 nano.1.html: nano.1
-	cat $< | groff -t -mandoc -Thtml > $@
+	groff -t -mandoc -Thtml < $< > $@
 nanorc.5.html: nanorc.5
-	cat $< | groff -t -mandoc -Thtml > $@
+	groff -t -mandoc -Thtml < $< > $@
 rnano.1.html: rnano.1
-	cat $< | groff -t -mandoc -Thtml > $@
+	groff -t -mandoc -Thtml < $< > $@
 
 EXTRA_DIST = $(nano_man_mans) $(nano_built_sources)
diff --git a/doc/texinfo/Makefile.am b/doc/texinfo/Makefile.am
index 895967e3a83d94f3fb609bb96b7e1e87a5d18e7e..91f01636c668966733831f6771dcac2ce75da2a8 100644
--- a/doc/texinfo/Makefile.am
+++ b/doc/texinfo/Makefile.am
@@ -5,6 +5,6 @@ MAKEINFO = makeinfo --no-split
 BUILT_SOURCES = nano.html
 
 nano.html: nano.texi
-	cat $< | makeinfo --no-split --html > $@
+	makeinfo --no-split --html < $< > $@
 
 EXTRA_DIST = $(info_TEXINFOS) $(BUILT_SOURCES)