diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs/elisp-packages/update b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs/elisp-packages/update
index 02701fb546d95..e9f649c8aa50e 100755
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs/elisp-packages/update
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs/elisp-packages/update
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 set -euo pipefail
 
-SCRIPT_DIR="$( cd "$(dirname "$0")" ; pwd -P )"
-cd "$SCRIPT_DIR"
+# Classic "where I am" block
+# https://www.binaryphile.com/bash/2020/01/12/determining-the-location-of-your-script-in-bash.html
+SCRIPT_DIR=$(cd $(dirname ${BASH_SOURCE[0]}); cd -P $(dirname $(readlink ${BASH_SOURCE[0]} || echo .)); pwd)
+cd "${SCRIPT_DIR}"
 
 ./update-from-overlay
 
 ./update-manual
-git commit -m "emacs.pkgs.manualPackages: $(date --iso)" -- .
+git commit -m "emacsPackages.manualPackages: updated at $(date --iso) (non-interactively)" -- .
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs/elisp-packages/update-manual b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs/elisp-packages/update-manual
index 3b199eecc3d2b..1a83f14b7b74b 100755
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs/elisp-packages/update-manual
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs/elisp-packages/update-manual
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 set -euo pipefail
 
-SCRIPT_DIR="$( cd "$(dirname "$0")" ; pwd -P )"
-cd "$SCRIPT_DIR"
+# Classic "where I am" block
+# https://www.binaryphile.com/bash/2020/01/12/determining-the-location-of-your-script-in-bash.html
+SCRIPT_DIR=$(cd $(dirname ${BASH_SOURCE[0]}); cd -P $(dirname $(readlink ${BASH_SOURCE[0]} || echo .)); pwd)
+cd "${SCRIPT_DIR}"
 
 nix-build --no-out-link update-manual.nix | xargs -n 1 -P $(nproc) bash -c