diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d292e0c..8f98641 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1101,11 +1101,13 @@ Alternative to the `basename` command.
 ```sh
 basename() {
     # Usage: basename "path" ["suffix"]
-    dir=${1%${1##*[!/]}}
-    dir=${dir##*/}
-    dir=${dir%"$2"}
+    local tmp
 
-    printf '%s\n' "${dir:-/}"
+    tmp=${1%${1##*[!/]}}
+    tmp=${tmp##*/}
+    tmp=${tmp%"${2/$1}"}
+
+    printf '%s\n' "${tmp:-/}"
 }
 ```
 
diff --git a/manuscript/chapter5.txt b/manuscript/chapter5.txt
index 41db729..bbf7514 100644
--- a/manuscript/chapter5.txt
+++ b/manuscript/chapter5.txt
@@ -40,11 +40,13 @@ Alternative to the `basename` command.
 ```sh
 basename() {
     # Usage: basename "path" ["suffix"]
-    dir=${1%${1##*[!/]}}
-    dir=${dir##*/}
-    dir=${dir%"$2"}
+    local tmp
 
-    printf '%s\n' "${dir:-/}"
+    tmp=${1%${1##*[!/]}}
+    tmp=${tmp##*/}
+    tmp=${tmp%"${2/$1}"}
+
+    printf '%s\n' "${tmp:-/}"
 }
 ```