diff --git a/etc/MAKEDEV.tmpl b/etc/MAKEDEV.tmpl
index a5afa47d330e..ded306ac458d 100644
--- a/etc/MAKEDEV.tmpl
+++ b/etc/MAKEDEV.tmpl
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/sh -
-#	$NetBSD: MAKEDEV.tmpl,v 1.104 2008/04/09 20:19:15 apb Exp $
+#	$NetBSD: MAKEDEV.tmpl,v 1.105 2008/04/15 09:52:41 apb Exp $
 #
 # Copyright (c) 2003,2007,2008 The NetBSD Foundation, Inc.
 # All rights reserved.
@@ -361,8 +361,13 @@ linecount()
 
 # nooutput -12 cmd [args...]
 #	run a command with stdout and/or stderr ignored.
-#	"nooutput -2 cmd" is like "cmd 2>/dev/null",
-#	except it should work even if /dev/null doesn't [yet] exist.
+#	"nooutput -1 cmd" is like "cmd >/dev/null";
+#	"nooutput -2 cmd" is like "{ cmd ; } 2>/dev/null";
+#	"nooutput -12 cmd" is like "{ cmd ; } >/dev/null 2>&1";
+#	except they should work even if /dev/null doesn't [yet] exist.
+#
+#	The "{...}" wrapper used in cases where stderr is redirected
+#	serves to capture shell error messages such as "cmd: not found".
 #
 nooutput()
 {
@@ -370,8 +375,8 @@ nooutput()
 	local junk
 	case "$flags" in
 	"-1")	junk="$( "$@" )" ;;
-	"-2")	exec 4>&1 ; junk="$( "$@" 2>&1 1>&4 )" ; exec 4>&- ;;
-	"-12")	junk="$( "$@" 2>&1 )" ;;
+	"-2")	exec 4>&1 ; junk="$( { "$@" ; } 2>&1 1>&4 )" ; exec 4>&- ;;
+	"-12")	junk="$( { "$@" ; } 2>&1 )" ;;
 	*)	warn "Incorrect use of nooutput" ;;
 	esac
 }