diff --git a/ocaml/Makefile.common b/ocaml/Makefile.common
index b41916de042..644fbb202ac 100644
--- a/ocaml/Makefile.common
+++ b/ocaml/Makefile.common
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
-# $NetBSD: Makefile.common,v 1.65 2023/04/09 07:27:48 wiz Exp $
+# $NetBSD: Makefile.common,v 1.67 2024/11/30 01:34:47 gdt Exp $
 
-# used by x11/labltk/Makefile
+# not used by anything else these days
+
+# Please do not update to ocaml 5.x without discussion, as the
+# consensus is mostly that those versions are not yet baked, and will
+# cause hard-to-debug problems.
 DISTNAME=	ocaml-5.2.0
 CATEGORIES=	lang
 # unreliable
@@ -9,6 +13,7 @@ MASTER_SITES=	${MASTER_SITE_GITHUB:=ocaml/}
 GITHUB_TAG=	${PKGVERSION_NOREV}
 
 MAINTAINER=	jaapb@NetBSD.org
+#MAINTAINER+=	gdt@NetBSD.org
 HOMEPAGE=	https://ocaml.org/
 COMMENT=	The latest implementation of the Caml dialect of ML
 LICENSE=	gnu-gpl-v2
diff --git a/ocaml/TODO b/ocaml/TODO
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2361669cb52
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ocaml/TODO
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+  - update to 5.2.1
+  - explain and clean up the bdb stuff in lang/ocaml
+  - sort PLISTs consistently between lang/ocaml and this, to enable
+    understanding what is changed
+  - create COMMIT_MESSAGE
+    + explain why *all* the patches in lang/ocaml are missing
+    + explain PLIST changes
+    + explain why pic and flambda options are being removed
+  - create meta-pkgs/bulk-test-ocaml and test
+  - run tests and assess
diff --git a/ocaml/ocaml.mk b/ocaml/ocaml.mk
index 092abdcf558..aab3226af2c 100644
--- a/ocaml/ocaml.mk
+++ b/ocaml/ocaml.mk
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# $NetBSD: ocaml.mk,v 1.2 2023/04/09 07:28:27 wiz Exp $
+# $NetBSD: ocaml.mk,v 1.3 2024/11/30 00:32:16 gdt Exp $
 #
 # This Makefile fragment handles the common variables used by OCaml packages.
 # It should be included by every package that uses OCaml.
@@ -241,7 +241,8 @@ do-build:
 		${DUNE_BUILD_TARGETS}
 .  else
 	${RUN} ${_ULIMIT_CMD} \
-		cd ${WRKSRC} && dune build --profile release -j ${MAKE_JOBS:U1} \
+		cd ${WRKSRC} && ${SETENV} ${MAKE_ENV} \
+		dune build --profile release -j ${MAKE_JOBS:U1} \
 		${DUNE_BUILD_FLAGS} ${DUNE_BUILD_TARGETS}
 .  endif