diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index b83b5032..3b742273 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 **/.idea/
 **/*.iml
 .DS_Store
+query_string.y.go.tmp
 /analysis/token_filters/cld2/cld2-read-only
 /analysis/token_filters/cld2/libcld2_full.a
 /utils/bleve_create/bleve_create
diff --git a/query_string_parser.go b/query_string_parser.go
index f486e550..f9875df0 100644
--- a/query_string_parser.go
+++ b/query_string_parser.go
@@ -8,7 +8,12 @@
 //  and limitations under the License.
 
 //go:generate go tool yacc -o query_string.y.go query_string.y
-//go:generate sed -i "" -e 1d query_string.y.go
+//go:generate sed -i.tmp -e 1d query_string.y.go
+//go:generate rm query_string.y.go.tmp
+
+// note: OSX sed and gnu sed handle the -i (in-place) option differently.
+// using -i.tmp works on both, at the expense of having to remove
+// the unsightly .tmp files
 
 package bleve