diff --git a/wordwrap.pl b/wordwrap.pl
index 646bbc35..807c6288 100644
--- a/wordwrap.pl
+++ b/wordwrap.pl
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@ while (<>) {
     }
     next if (/^$/);	# skip blank lines
     $linelen = 0;
-    split;
-    while (defined($word = shift @_)) {
+    @words = split;
+    while (defined($word = shift @words)) {
 	$word =~ s#\$\(srcdir\)/\.\./version.h#\$\(top_srcdir\)/version.h#;
 	$word =~ s#\$\(srcdir\)/.\.\/\.\./version.h#\$\(top_srcdir\)/version.h#;
 	$word =~ s#\$\(srcdir\)/.\.\/et/com_err.h#\$\(top_srcdir\)/lib/et/com_err.h#;