diff --git a/.bazelrc b/.bazelrc
index 2f0032c9dfc..3ff8578938e 100644
--- a/.bazelrc
+++ b/.bazelrc
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 startup --output_base .build
-build --color=yes --workspace_status_command "${PWD}/buildvars.sh"
+build --color=yes --features=pure --workspace_status_command "${PWD}/buildvars.sh"
diff --git a/buildvars.sh b/buildvars.sh
index 80951d8beaf..cfea530ad05 100755
--- a/buildvars.sh
+++ b/buildvars.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-#!/bin/bash -e
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -e
 
 # Vars exported to the build info
 echo TECTONIC_VERSION "${TECTONIC_VERSION}"