diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index fe1cc73b13..9f9ebda901 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -68,6 +68,9 @@ jobs:
       run: |
         echo "OUTPUT=${{ env.OUTPUT }}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
         echo "#define FPM_BOOTSTRAP" > fpm-${{ env.VERSION }}.F90
+        # Intel compiler predefines "linux" and "unix" which causes inadvertent substitutions
+        echo "#undef linux"          >> fpm-${{ env.VERSION }}.F90
+        echo "#undef unix"           >> fpm-${{ env.VERSION }}.F90
         fpm build --compiler ./ci/single-file-gfortran.sh
       env:
         OUTPUT: fpm-${{ env.VERSION }}.F90
diff --git a/src/fpm_compiler.f90 b/src/fpm_compiler.f90
index 5f655ac1ed..f6c02e9845 100644
--- a/src/fpm_compiler.f90
+++ b/src/fpm_compiler.f90
@@ -439,9 +439,9 @@ function get_macros(id, macros_list, version) result(macros)
     !> Set macro defintion symbol on the basis of compiler used
     select case(id)
     case default
-        macro_definition_symbol = "-D"
+        macro_definition_symbol = " -D"
     case (id_intel_classic_windows, id_intel_llvm_windows)
-        macro_definition_symbol = "/D"
+        macro_definition_symbol = " /D"
     end select
 
     !> Check if macros are not allocated.
@@ -465,23 +465,14 @@ function get_macros(id, macros_list, version) result(macros)
                     if (index(valued_macros(size(valued_macros)), "version") /= 0) then
                     
                         !> These conditions are placed in order to ensure proper spacing between the macros.
-                        if (len(macros) == 0) then
-                            macros = macros//macro_definition_symbol//trim(valued_macros(1))//'='//version
-                        else 
-                            macros = macros//' '//macro_definition_symbol//trim(valued_macros(1))//'='//version
-                        end if
+                        macros = macros//macro_definition_symbol//trim(valued_macros(1))//'='//version
                         cycle
                     end if
                 end if
             end if 
         end if
          
-        !> These conditions are placed in order to ensure proper spacing between the macros.
-        if (len(macros) == 0) then
-            macros = ' '//macros//macro_definition_symbol//macros_list(i)%s
-        else 
-            macros = macros//' '//macro_definition_symbol//macros_list(i)%s
-        end if
+        macros = macros//macro_definition_symbol//macros_list(i)%s
 
     end do