diff --git a/src/languages/makefile.js b/src/languages/makefile.js
index a616fffad5..5b014705f1 100644
--- a/src/languages/makefile.js
+++ b/src/languages/makefile.js
@@ -38,7 +38,10 @@ export default function(hljs) {
         + 'word wordlist firstword lastword dir notdir suffix basename '
         + 'addsuffix addprefix join wildcard realpath abspath error warning '
         + 'shell origin flavor foreach if or and call eval file value' },
-    contains: [ VARIABLE ]
+    contains: [ 
+      VARIABLE,
+      QUOTE_STRING // Added QUOTE_STRING as they can be a part of functions
+    ]
   };
   /* Variable assignment */
   const ASSIGNMENT = { begin: '^' + hljs.UNDERSCORE_IDENT_RE + '\\s*(?=[:+?]?=)' };