diff --git a/tools/build/options/makeman b/tools/build/options/makeman
--- a/tools/build/options/makeman
+++ b/tools/build/options/makeman
@@ -317,8 +317,9 @@
 				;;
 		esac
 
-		twiddle >&2
+		printf "." >&2
 	done
+	printf "\n" >&2
 	cat <<EOF
 .El
 .Sh FILES
@@ -343,13 +344,4 @@
 EOF
 }
 
-twiddle_pos=0
-twiddle()
-{
-	local c0='|' c1='/' c2='-' c3='\'
-
-	eval printf '%c\\b' '$c'${twiddle_pos}
-	twiddle_pos=$(((twiddle_pos+1)%4))
-}
-
 main