Additional character consumed after $(@)

When $(@) is parsed, it incorrectly consumes the next character. For example, in the following, the executable name would be defined as
"thing.exeone.obj"

thing.exe: one.obj two.obj
LINK $(LINKFLAGS) /OUT:$(@) $**

Putting in two spaces between the arguments mitigates the problem as does using the $@ form.